130 Children and Staff Freed from Nigerian School Abduction in Time for Christmas
The remaining 130 abductees from St Mary's Catholic boarding school in Niger State, Nigeria, were freed, completing the rescue of those taken on 21 November 2025. The abduction involved more than 300 pupils and 12 staff; initially, 50 escaped, and by 8 December, 100 had been reported rescued. The freed group was due to arrive in Minna on Monday, 22 December 2025, to be reunited with their parents for Christmas. The release was announced by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga on X and described as the result of a military-intelligence driven operation. This incident is one of Nigeria's largest mass kidnappings in recent years and highlights ongoing insecurity in northern Nigeria. It fits within a wider context of school kidnappings since Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from Chibok in 2014, many of whom remain missing.
