Five more students from a high school in northern Nigeria, kidnapped almost a month ago along with 34 of their classmates, have been released, police said on Friday.
Five others had already been found on Monday, bringing the number of students at Afaka vocational high school in Kaduna state, still captive, to 29.
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"We found five additional students, among those kidnapped"
on March 11, state police spokesman Mohamed Jalige told AFP, adding that they had been discovered in the bush of the district. of Gwari, where armed gangs have camps.
The students - four boys and a girl - were released by their captors
"due to the pressure and intensive patrols in the bush,"
he said.
Friday Sani, spokesperson for a support group for parents of abducted students, said the five high school students were handed over to their parents on Friday.
"The return of five more students has filled us with hope that the remaining 29 will soon be released,"
he told AFP.
On March 11, gunmen attacked Afaka Vocational High School boarding school on the outskirts of the state capital and attempted to kidnap the students.
The army had succeeded in rescuing nearly 180 boys and girls.
Mass kidnappings of schoolchildren for ransom are on the rise in northern and central Nigeria, perpetrated by criminal groups that have long terrorized populations, steal livestock and loot villages.
