‘To celebrate Christmas is therefore to see Nigeria not only as she is, but as she is called to be. The manger proclaims that despair will not have the last word and calls us to renewed commitment to justice, reconciliation, and peace.’
Nigerian authorities have announced the release of a further 130 schoolchildren kidnapped from a Catholic school in November, after 100 were freed earlier this month and another 50 escaped custody the second day after the abduction.
A Presidential spokesperson in an X message on Sunday, December 21, 2025 said: “Another 130 abducted Niger State pupils released, none left in captivity.”
In late November, gunmen kidnapped 315 students, comprising primary and secondary students and staff from St Mary’s co-educational boarding school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State.
Nigeria has recently seen a new wave of mass abductions, reminiscent of the kidnapping of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok by the militant group Boko Haram in 2014.
A UN source said the remaining schoolchildren were taken to Minna, the capital of Niger State, on Monday, December 22, 2025.
The exact number of people taken and how many have remained in captivity has been unclear since the kidnapping in the rural hamlet of Papiri.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that a total of 315 students and staff were kidnapped. Some 50 escaped immediately afterwards, and on 7 December the government secured the release of about 100 more.
A statement from President Bola Tinubu then put the number of people still being held at 115 about 50 fewer than the initial CAN figure would suggest.
It has not been made public who seized the children, or how the government secured their release.
Though kidnappings for ransom are a common way for criminals and armed groups to make money, a spate of mass abductions in Nigeria has put an uncomfortable spotlight on the country’s already grim security situation.
In November, assailants kidnapped two dozen Muslim schoolgirls, 38 church worshippers and a bride and her bridesmaids, with male farm workers, women and children also taken hostage.
The kidnappings come as Nigeria faces a diplomatic offensive from the United States, where President Donald Trump has alleged that mass killings of Christians in the west African country amount to a “genocide”.
The Nigerian government and independent analysts reject that framing, which has long been used by the Christian right in the US and Europe.
The religiously diverse country of 230 million people has myriad security concerns, from jihadists in the north-east to armed “bandit” gangs in the north-west, and its multiple conflicts have seen Christians and Muslims killed.
In a Christmas message to its estimated 45 million members across Nigeria, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) encouraged Catholics to put their faith in Jesus Christ, amid the challenges of insecurity, corruption, and hopelessness.
Most Rev Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri in the South Eastern Nigeria, said Nigeria today carries heavy wounds: “Economic hardship, insecurity, displacement, and persistent violence have left many of our people fearful, weary, and uncertain.”
The CBCN said that families have been torn apart, livelihoods disrupted, and lives lost to lawlessness. “We recall with deep pain the abduction of students and staff from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, and the anguish of families whose loved ones remain in captivity, alongside countless others across the country living under similar threats.
“They are human lives of immeasurable worth, each bearing the image of God. Yet Christmas proclaims a deeper truth: suffering does not mean abandonment. Because God has entered history, history is never closed. Christian hope does not deny evil, but it refuses to concede that evil is final.
“At Christmas, the Church proclaims the truth upon which all Christian hope rests: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God did not respond to the brokenness of the world with distance or indifference. He responded by drawing near.
“In Jesus Christ, born in humility and vulnerability, God entered human history, embraced human suffering, and chose presence over abandonment. God becomes man and dwells among us. In Him God is Emmanuel, God-with-us. He shares our flesh and lot. It is through this truth that we must read our lives, our nation, and our future.”
The Bishops noted that even when answers were delayed and outcomes remain uncertain, hope assured that no life is forgotten and that every effort to protect life and restore dignity participates in God’s saving work.
Ugorji said, “the birth of Christ assures us that evil does not have the final word, Christmas opens before us the path toward hope and renewal. Peace can be built, unity restored, and justice take root when truth and human dignity are respected. Our nation longs for a future where integrity overcomes corruption and violence gives way to security.
“While injustice has wounded our common life, Christmas assures us that these patterns are not irreversible. What has been fractured can be rebuilt, and what has been wounded can be healed, if we accept the shared responsibility.”
The Bishops gave words of assurances to Nigerians, saying “even amid these trials, signs of hope continue to emerge in our land. Across our communities, many Nigerians quietly choose courage over fear, honesty over corruption, and service over self-interest. These daily acts of faithfulness remind us that the moral heart of our nation is still alive and that renewal can grow even in a difficult soil.
“To celebrate Christmas is therefore to see Nigeria not only as she is, but as she is called to be. Emmanuel, God with us, assures us that our story is not finished, that grace is still at work in our land, and that hope remains stronger than fear. The manger proclaims that despair will not have the last word and calls us to renewed commitment to justice, reconciliation, and peace.
“May the light Christmas shine forth anew in our land. May the comforting message of the coming of Emmanuel heal our wounds and bring us consolation in our trials and tribulations. May the birth of the Saviour open new horizons of peace in our dear nation.”