The remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria's Niger State have been released, the presidency has announced, bringing an end to the captivity of the last pupils still being held.

Presidential spokesman Sunday Dare said in a post on X: "Another 130 abducted Niger state pupils released, none left in captivity." He shared a photograph of smiling children alongside the announcement, but gave no details of the circumstances surrounding their release.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the children's freedom followed a military-intelligence driven operation, and that they were expected to arrive in Minna, the Niger State capital, on Monday to be reunited with their parents. The total number of pupils now freed stands at 230, he said.

How the abduction unfolded

Gunmen stormed St Mary's Private Catholic School, a co-educational boarding school in the village of Papiri in north-central Niger State, in the early hours of 21 November, seizing pupils and staff. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said 303 children and 12 teachers were taken, with victims including boys and girls, some as young as 10.

The exact number taken has been unclear throughout the ordeal. CAN initially said 315 students and staff were unaccounted for after the attack. Within 48 hours, 50 students managed to escape and return to their families, and the government later announced that security forces had rescued 100 more of the victims.

Even after Sunday's announcement, questions remained about the final figures. A UN source told AFP that all those taken appeared to have been released, saying dozens thought to have been kidnapped had in fact run off during the attack and made their way home. Daniel Atori, a spokesman for CAN in Niger State, said final verification was still needed.

Release confirmed, details not disclosed

Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago called the Bishop of Kontagora diocese, which runs the school, to confirm the release of the children and teachers. The bishop, Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, is the proprietor of the school.

It has not been made public who seized the children from their boarding school, or how the government secured their release. The authorities have not said whether any ransom was paid, and the identity of the abductors remains unclear.

The attack was the latest in a wave of mass abductions by armed groups targeting schools and other vulnerable communities in Nigeria, often for ransom. It drew comparisons with the 2014 abduction of schoolgirls from Chibok by Boko Haram, one of the country's most notorious kidnappings.

A wider security challenge

Nigeria continues to face multiple security threats, including armed gangs known locally as bandits in the north-west and north-central regions, alongside jihadist groups in the north-east. Schools in remote areas have repeatedly been attacked, with hundreds of pupils seized in several incidents in recent years.

The government has pledged to strengthen security around schools and to work with state authorities to protect pupils. For the families of the St Mary's children, the announcement brings relief after weeks of uncertainty, although the full account of what happened to the children during their captivity has yet to emerge.