Nigerians welcome 130 schoolchildren and teachers released after mass abduction

MINNA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerians on Monday got their first look at 130 children and teachers released after being seized in one of the largest mass abductions in the country’s history.

Some of the children appeared to be malnourished or in shock as they arrived at a government ceremony. Police said they were freed Sunday, a month after gunmen stormed their Catholic school in Niger state’s Papiri community in a predawn attack.

Authorities said plans were underway to reunite the children with their families before Christmas.

Authorities earlier said 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were seized and 50 of them escaped in the hours that followed. But on Monday, Niger state Gov. Mohammed Bago indicated that 230 had been taken and all had now been released.

School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous country.

Officials did not say whether a ransom — common in such abductions — had been paid. No group has claimed responsibility, but residents blamed armed gangs that target schools and travelers in kidnappings for ransom across Nigeria’s conflict-battered north.

Most of those seized in the attack were aged between 10 and 17, the school said. One of the children released earlier told The Associated Press that gunmen threatened to shoot them during the attack.

Maj. Gen. Adamu Garba Laka, national coordinator at Nigeria’s Center for Counter Terrorism, told Monday’s event that Nigeria will work with community leaders to boost safety in high-risk areas.