MINNA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerians on Monday got their first look at130 children and teachers releasedafter being seized inone of the largest mass abductionsin the country's history.
Some of the children appeared to be malnourished or in shock as they arrived at a government ceremony. Police said they were freed Sunday, a month after gunmen stormed their Catholic school in Niger state's Papiri community in a predawn attack.
Authorities said plans were underway to reunite the children withtheir familiesbefore Christmas.
Authorities earlier said303 schoolchildren and 12 teacherswere seized and 50 of them escaped in the hours that followed. But on Monday, Niger state Gov. Mohammed Bago indicated that 230 had been taken and all had now been released.
School kidnappingshave come to define insecurity in Africa's most populous country.
Officials did not say whether a ransom — common in such abductions — had been paid. No group has claimed responsibility, but residents blamed armed gangs that target schools and travelers in kidnappings for ransom across Nigeria's conflict-battered north.
Most of those seized in the attack were aged between 10 and 17, the school said. One of the children released earlier told The Associated Press that gunmenthreatened to shoot themduring the attack.
Maj. Gen. Adamu Garba Laka, national coordinator at Nigeria's Center for Counter Terrorism, told Monday's event that Nigeria will work with community leaders to boost safety in high-risk areas.
