PAPIRI: Several parents welcomed the return late Tuesday night of their children, who were abducted last month when gunmen stormed their school.
“It has not been easy for me... But today, in fact, I have a little bit of joy, especially because there is still one abducted. But I am now happy with this one that I have gotten," Luka Illaya, one of the parents in the hall, told The Associated Press. One of his sons was released, while another remains with the abductors.
His son, who hugged him tightly, is one of the 100 students released over the weekend after they were abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school on Nov. 21.
The Papiri school abductions, where more than 300 students and staff were taken, was the latest in a string of mass abductions that have rocked Nigeria in the past decade. Days earlier, 25 students were also abducted in nearby Kebbi state.
The government did not release any details about the released Papiri students and the fate of at least 150 other children and staff who remain in captivity. Fifty of the students escaped in the hours following the abductions.
“We thank all the security agencies that helped in the rescue of our children. We are pleading that God should give them more strength to be able to rescue the remaining children,” Reverend Sister Felicia Gyang, the principal of the school, said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abductions.
Analysts say school children are a target for armed groups seeking a high ransom from the government and communities. Such abductions have often commanded national and international attention, with the pope last month calling for the release of the Papiri students in a Sunday address from the Vatican.
Since 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from Chibok, there have been at least a dozen mass school abductions with at least 1,799 students kidnapped, according to an AP tally.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on X earlier this week called on security agencies and governors to do more to protect children from falling into the hands of abductors, saying students “should no longer be sitting ducks.”
Nigerian children reunite with their parents after being released from abduction
https://arab.news/yj5fs
Nigerian children reunite with their parents after being released from abduction
- Since 2014, when Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from Chibok, there have been at least a dozen mass school abductions with at least 1,799 students kidnapped
Trump downplays importance of Russia reportedly sharing intel with Iran to help it hit US targets
- Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine
- Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets
DORAL, Florida: President Donald Trump said Saturday that it was inconsequential if Russia has provided Iran with information to help Tehran target US military personnel and assets in the Middle East as the week-old war rages.
The president dismissed the import of such information-sharing after he attended the dignified transfer for six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait the day after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran that has unsettled the global economy.
Trump stopped short of confirming reports by The Associated Press and other news outlets that US intelligence officials believe Russia has provided Iran with such targeting information. But if Moscow is passing on such details, he said Iran was getting little out of it.
“If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Miami, where he’s spending the rest of the weekend.
The president also waved off a question about how Russia assisting Iran in such a way might affect his view of the US-Russia relationship.
“They’d say we do it against them,” Trump responded. “Wouldn’t they say that we do it against them?”
Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets.
Downplaying the significance of Russia handing off battlespace intelligence to Iran came after the US Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it was temporarily allowing India to keep buying crude oil and petroleum products from Russia for a month, until April 4.
The administration decision to grant the world’s most populous country a temporary exemption faced bipartisan blowback. Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, condemned the move, saying in a post on X that “weakness toward Russia is appalling.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., in his own X post directed at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also decried the administration’s decision.
“Reverse your decision to lift oil sanctions on Russia. It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” Lieu said. “Meanwhile, Russia is assisting Iran in targeting American troops.”
Trump has decided to give India leeway on oil purchases from Russia as global oil prices surge and investors across sectors worry about how long the Iran war will last.
The waiver for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government followed Trump announcing weeks ago that he was cutting tariffs on India after their officials agreed to reduce its reliance on cheap Russian crude.
India has taken advantage of reduced Russian oil prices as much of the world has sought to isolate Moscow for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The price of oil has surged higher and shows no signs of halting a week into a war that the US and Israel launched and has widened through the Middle East as Tehran strikes back. Ships that carry roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are unable to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf that is bordered on its north side by Iran.
The shipping disruption and damage to key Middle East oil and gas facilities has interrupted supplies from some of the world’s largest oil producers.
Asked whether he was willing to take other steps to ease oil prices, Trump said that “if there were some, I would do it, just to take a little of the pressure off.”
He appeared Saturday to wave off, at least for now, the possibility of tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying the US has a “lot of oil.”
The reserve — a supply of oil that the US government can tap in case of emergencies — held more than 415 million barrels as of the end of last month, up from about 395 million barrels at this time in 2025. In total, when full, the SPR can hold more than 700 million barrels.
“We’ve got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount,” Trump said. “There’s a lot of oil out there. That’ll get healed very quickly.”
