Nigeria, Dec. 29 -- For about 30 days, 130 students and staff of St Mary's Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, Niger State, lived away from home, family and classrooms after Boko Haram terrorists stormed their school in the early hours of 21 November. The students ranged in age from 6 to 18.

The abduction, one of the largest school kidnappings in recent months, unsettled the authorities and kept security forces on their feet. It revealed a dire security failure in the North-central state, where two jihadi groups have tightened their grip on local communities surrounding the Kainji Lake National Park.

The terrorists under the command of Mallam Sadiku attacked the Catholic boarding school before dawn, rounding up 315 people, in...