UPDATED: Niger governor receives 100 students released by terrorists

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Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago has received 100 schoolchildren who were released by their abductors on Sunday.

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The children were handed over to the governor by representatives of the National Security Adviser (NSA) office.

Mr Ribadu who was represented by Abdullahi Hong, a Wing Commander, said security agencies have been working tirelessly since the students were abducted.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the Nigerian government secured the release of the 100 children, out of the 265 abducted from St Mary Catholic School in Papiri, Agwara LGA, Niger State.

Mr Bago received the students at Government House, Minna.

The students were jolted from their sleep on 21 November when terrorists stormed their dormitories and marched them alongside 12 staff into the forest.

Students released along Luma-Guffanti axis

PREMIUM TIMES can report that the students were handed over by the terrorists or intermediaries around the Kainji forest reserve area along Luma-Guffanti road.

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The road has been under siege by terrorists using the reserve as hideouts.

Commercial drivers in the area told our reporter at Guffanti Monday morning that they saw the about 20 military vehicles and four Hias buses going into the reserve area.

“We were at our garage in Wawa when they soldiers passed us around 7 p.m.,” one driver said.

“About 8:30 pm, they returned from the area with the children,” another driver told our reporter. “We waved at the children.”

At about 12 a.m., residents of Nasarawa village in Mashegu LGA, said they saw the convoy carrying the students passed through the dusty village.

The convoy moved from there to Zugurma, and thereafter to Mokwa from where they moved to Abuja.

Bago receives the students

While welcoming the students, Mr Bago thanked President Bola Tinubu and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu for rescuing the children.

The governor, according to journalists who covered the handing over, said that the remaining students in captivity will soon be rescued and reunited with their parents.

READ ALSO: Governor Bago targets journalists for reporting insecurity in Niger State

The journalists said the governor noted his administration is collaborating with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other relevant authorities to ensure the safe return of all the abducted students.