Nigeria: According to authorities on Sunday, over 130 students and staff who were kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria last month have been freed.

On November 21, gunmen stormed St. Mary’s Catholic School in the Papiri town in north-central Niger state, Nigeria, seizing at least 303 students and 12 teachers.

One hundred pupils were let free earlier this month, and fifty fled in the hours that followed.

“The remaining batch of the abducted students” have now been freed, according to a statement from Niger State police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun.

According to Abiodun, “130 victims, including the staff, have been released.”

“Further details will be communicated,” Abiodun told The Associated Press in response to a question about the 35 missing teachers and pupils.

In a post on X, presidential spokeswoman Bayo Onanuga announced the release of the “remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted.”

He claimed that on Monday, the freed pupils will go to Minna, the capital of Niger State, to spend Christmas with their parents.

“A military intelligence-driven operation led to the schoolchildren’s freedom,” Onanuga said.

In a post on X, Sunday Dare, another spokeswoman for President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, said that 130 pupils had been freed and that none remained in custody.

Locals accused armed gangs who target schools and tourists in kidnappings for ransoms across Nigeria’s conflict-torn north, but no organization has claimed responsibility for the abduction on November 21.

The incident in Niger State occurred four days after 25 pupils were taken in identical circumstances in Maga town, which is in nearby Kebbi state. It was one of many recent mass kidnappings in Nigeria. Around the same time, a church in southern Kwara state was assaulted; the 38 worshipers who were kidnapped during the incident last month were released.

Bola Tinubu has under criticism both domestically and from US President Donald Trump, who has claimed that Christians are being singled out in Nigeria’s security situation.

Arrests in such circumstances are uncommon, and Nigerian officials often keep quiet about rescue operations. According to analysts, this is because ransoms are often paid. Ransom payments are denied by officials.