A total of 100 of the schoolchildren abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school and released over the weekend have been hosted at a government-organized ceremony. Gunmen attacked St. Mary's Catholic School in the Papiri community on Nov. 21, seizing at least 303 children and 12 teachers. Fifty escaped shortly afterward. On Monday, the freed schoolchildren arrived at the Niger Government House in several buses accompanied by military trucks, before being welcomed by government officials. Details surrounding their release were not made public and the government has not said if any ransom was paid. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu in a statement commended security agencies "for their steadfast work" in ensuring the safe return of the students.
By TUNDE OMOLEHIN, OPE ADETAYO and MARK BANCHEREAU Associated Press
Nigeria's president says that all 24 schoolgirls held by assailants following a mass abduction last week from a school in Kebbi in northwestern Nigeria have been rescued. A total of 25 girls were abducted on Nov. 17 from a government school in Kebbi state's Maga town, but one of them was able to escape the same day. The remaining 24 were all rescued, according to a statement from President Bola Tinubu. It was among a spate of recent mass abductions, including a raid on a Catholic school Friday in north-central Niger state in which more than 300 students and staff were abducted. Fifty students later escaped.
By OPE ADETAYO and DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN Associated Press
Police in Nigeria say gunmen have abducted 25 girls from a high school in the country's northwestern Kebbi state. At least one member of staff at the school was killed in the attack. No group has claimed responsibility. A police spokesperson says the raid happened at 4 a.m. on Monday and that the girls were taken from their dorms. The boarding school is in Maga, in the state's Danko-Wasagu area. This is the latest in a series of abductions from schools in northern Nigeria, where armed groups have been targeting schoolchildren since 2014.
Infant twins suffered from malnutrition in Nigeria. One died shortly after the Trump administration sharply cut funding for the United States Agency for International Development. USAID for years had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria. It helped non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people under threat from Boko Haram militants. Now programs to feed hungry children are closing. A former USAID chief nutritionist predicts 163,500 additional deaths per year worldwide as treatment for severe malnutrition is limited. The mother in Nigeria cradles the surviving twin and says, "I don't want to bury another child."
