The Nigerian military has freed seven children and two adults who had been held captive since gunmen stormed an unregistered orphanage in Kogi state (a north-central Nigerian state) in late April. Most of the 23 children seized in the raid were released shortly afterward, but the remaining victims — five boys, two girls, and two women believed to be the orphanage owner's wives — were located and freed following what the army described as sustained search and rescue operations. The rescue comes amid widespread kidnapping-for-ransom activity across Nigeria, where armed gangs, jihadist groups, and other armed actors have repeatedly targeted schools and other vulnerable facilities.