Niger State Governor, Mohammad Umaru Bago, yesterday, received 130 rescued St. Mary Catholic Primary and Secondary School children, including seven teachers at Government House, Minna.

While handing over the kids, the National Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre, Major General Adamu Laka (rtd), revealed that the mission was carried out in collaboration with the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other security agencies.

He stated that the government had taken measures to safeguard the lives.

Laka applauded Nigerians for their support and prayers, adding that all the children had been successfully rescued.

Earlier, the governor appreciated President Bola Tinubu for his unwavering support towards the release of the children.

He, however, thanked God for the safe return of the children.

“As we are approaching the yuletide, I am inviting the children and their parents back to Minna to celebrate Christmas with me, he added.

Recall that in late November, hundreds of students and staff were kidnapped from St Mary’s boarding school in north-central Niger State.

The attack came amid a wave of mass abductions reminiscent of the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok. Over a decade later, dozens of the girls taken on that occasion remain missing.

Nigeria suffers from multiple interlinked security concerns, from armed groups in the northeast to armed “bandit” gangs in the northwest.

Initially, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that 315 students and staff were unaccounted for after the attack in the rural hamlet of Papiri.

About 50 of them escaped immediately afterwards, and on December 7, the government secured the release of about 100 people.

The abduction has fuelled outrage over worsening insecurity in northern Nigeria, where armed gangs frequently target schools for ransom.