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From John Adams, Minna
The 115 schoolchildren of St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State who were released in batches since Saturday evening will finally be reunited with their families tomorrow, Monday.
The 115 students with their teachers were finally handed over to the team of security personnel from the office of the National Security Adviser on Sunday evening after assembling them from different camps where they were being held.
Although the evacuation team left for the agreed location, a boundary between Lumma and Banana for the release of the children on Saturday to take their delivery, they were finally handed over on Saturday evening because they were being kept at different locations.
According to a source close to the community where they were released, the students were handed over at about 7:00pm on Sunday.
The children are said to be on their way to Minna, the state capital under heavy security where they will be handed over to the state government before reuniting with their families.
The release of the children is coming barely one month after they were abducted by the terrorists in a midnight raid on the school, where 315 of them including their teachers taken away.
Recall that 100 of the children were released two weeks ago and have been reunited with their families.
Although there is no official announcement yet on the release of the remaining children it was gathered that arrangements are being made to receive them at the Government House in Minna on Monday by the state Governor Umaru Mohammed Bago.
The children were part of the 315 persons seized on 21 November 2025 when armed bandits stormed the remote school community around 2:00 a.m., operating unhindered for nearly three hours.
The attackers abducted 303 students and 12 teachers, prompting a massive security response.
In the first 24 hours after the attack, 50 of the students escaped and were reunited with their families, leaving 265 others with their abductors, including 253 children and all 12 teachers.
To contain the crisis, the Federal Government enforced a 24-hour security lockdown across the area and launched wide-ranging aerial surveillance covering parts of Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi States.
President Bola Tinubu also cancelled a scheduled international trip to oversee the rescue operations personally.
Equally, the state governor Umaru Mohammed Bago cancelled all his official engagements and his proposed brief holiday and ordered prayers for the release of the remaining children.
The governor also ordered the closure of all schools in Niger State and several other federal institutions in high-risk areas to prevent further attacks.
The National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu, accompanied with other federal government delegation visited Kontagora to meet the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese, Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, and distraught parents of the abducted children.
Ribadu during the meeting assured them that the pupils were in stable condition and would soon be returned safely.
“God is with them and God is with us. Evil will never win. They are going to come back. I give you that assurance,” he stated during the visit.
However after 100 of the children were two weeks ago, attention was immediately shifted to the fate of the remaining 215 as security agencies continue coordinated operations to secure their release.
