Niger state kidnap: Nigeria says it has secured release of 100 children

Details of the release of the schoolchildren are still unclear and 165 people remain unaccounted for.

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Niger state's police chief, Adamu Abdullahi Elleman, and Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is in charge of the school as the local leader of the Catholic community, both told the BBC that they had received confirmation of the students' release.

They said the news had been confirmed by the president's national security advisor, but Bishop Yohanna said it was not clear when the children would be reunited with their parents.

More than 250 students and 12 staff were kidnapped from St Mary's Catholic school in Papiri, the latest in a wave of mass abductions.

Bishop Yohanna said he presumed the authorities may need time to process the pupils and provide necessary support before announcing a formal handover. He added that he did not know the students' current whereabouts.