By Adedapo Adesanya

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Monday that the Nigerian government has rescued around 100 schoolchildren who were abducted last month from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State.

According to a CAN spokesperson in Niger State, Mr Daniel Atori, the rescue was confirmed by government officials on Monday morning, without providing further details.

On November 21, gunmen attacked St. Mary’s Catholic boarding school in Papiri, a hamlet in Niger state, and abducted 315 people comprising over 300 pupils and students, including 12 teachers.

Fifty pupils managed to escape with help of farmers in the following hours, but since then, there had been no update on the whereabouts or conditions of the other children.

Speaking then, the chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN and Catholic bishop of Kontagora diocese, Mr Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, said the pupils regained freedom were quietly reunited with their families.

“Note that, in the primary section out of the total number of 430 pupils we have in the school, 377 of them are boarders and the remaining 53 others are non boarders.

“Currently, aside from the 50 pupils that escaped and have returned home, we have 141 pupils who were not carried away.

“As it stands now, we have 236 pupils, another 3 children who belong to our staff, 14 Secondary students making a total 253 children including 12 members of staff with the abductors,” he said.

However, it is not clear how the Nigerian government secured the freedom of the students. As of press time, the government has not made any comment regarding the issue.

By Adedapo Adesanya

President Bola Tinubu has sought more help from France to fight widespread security challenges in the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday.

Mr Macron said he had a phone call with Mr Tinubu yesterday, where he conveyed France’s support to Nigeria as it grapples with several security challenges, “particularly the terrorist threat in the North.”

“At his request, we will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations. We call on all our partners to step up their engagement,” Mr Macron said in a post on X.

“No one can remain a spectator,” he added.

His comments come amid heightened global attention on Nigeria’s internal security challenges, following repeated claims by the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, that Christian communities in the northern part of the country were facing increasing persecution.

The Nigerian government has said it welcomes help to fight insecurity as long as its sovereignty is respected, rightfully rejecting the claims which it says misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.

Due to its exit from some of its former French colonies, France has sought fresh allies on the African continent, with the call between both presidents reiterating the growing relationship. France has previously supported efforts to curtail the actions of armed groups.

As part of the activities commemorating the 2025 edition of ’16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence,’ the Amandla Institute for Policy and Leadership Advancement (AIPLA), in collaboration with the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN-Nigeria) and Womanifesto, will on December 9 convene the Beijing+30 Women’s Summit – a landmark national gathering to reflect on three decades of progress, challenges, and unfinished commitments under the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA).

Organised to strengthen women’s movements in Nigeria, the event is coming up 30 years after the historic Beijing, China, International Women’s Conference of 1995, as a platform to review the decades past while projecting for the years ahead.

Themed Beijing+30 Women’s Summit – Holding the Line for Women’s Rights: Looking Back and Marching Forward, the event aims to re-examine the pivotal roles played by African women, both on the continent and in the diaspora, in shaping the agenda, while facilitating intergenerational exchange and galvanising collective agency to advance feminist sensitive rights issues.

To set the ball rolling, three distinguished African feminists, ‘Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Co-founder, Amandla Institute; Prof. Funmilayo Para-Mallam, Chair, AWLN-Nigeria; and Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi of Womanifesto, would give welcome remarks and provide instructional context setting for the event. Thereafter, goodwill messages will be delivered from selected leaders and experts, ahead two panel sessions that will address issues related to women’s rights, abuses, and gender-based violence in Nigeria.

Recall that the Secretary-General of the Beijing Women’s Summit foregrounded the struggles of African women. Over the years, several African countries have made progressive strides through legal and constitutional reforms in their determination to chart a bold, transformative agenda for the empowerment of women.

Women constitute 60–79% of the rural workforce, yet men are five times more likely to own land. In the annals of international policy, the issues of power, politics, and policy were placed squarely on irregular measures.

In Rwanda, female parliamentary representation is the global highest at 61.3%; Senegal has passed a 50/50 parity law, Sierra Leone has a 30% affirmative action law, while Uganda has a constitutionally guaranteed representation for women. However, in Nigeria, the persistent gender gap in access to resources, representation, and opportunities remains painfully low for women.

These examples underscore what is possible when political will aligns with women’s agency. In regard to these concerns, the Women’s Summit is thus geared towards enhancing understanding of the historical significance and continuing relevance of the Beijing Conference of 1995 and its numerous outcomes, strengthening leadership and coordination among women’s organisations, renewing the advocacy for the call to action and especially to expand the mentorship networks linking with younger and seasoned women leaders across Nigeria.