Gunmen Release 27 Students Kidnapped in Northern Nigeria

(Bloomberg) -- Gunmen released 27 students kidnapped in March from a school in northern Nigeria amid a rash of mass abductions in Africa’s most populous nation.

President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed in a statement late on Wednesday the release of the students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in the state of Kaduna. He didn’t say how the pupils were freed or if a ransom was paid.

Dozens of Students Kidnapped in Latest Nigerian School Abduction

The abduction was the fifth mass kidnapping since December as an increase in school attacks have forced the shut down of many institutions in the north. Nigeria has an estimated 12 million children out of school, one of the highest in the world, according to UNICEF. Most of them are in northern Nigeria.

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