Nigerian Gunmen Release Kidnapped Schoolgirls

Nigerian security officials say gunmen have released hundreds of schoolgirls recently kidnapped from a school in the northern part of the country. 

Zamfara state Police Commissioner Abutu Yaro tweeted Tuesday the 279 school children are happy and healthy.  

Yaro partly credits the government’s ongoing Zamfara state peace accord with securing the girl’s release. He said more details will be provided later. It is unclear if their release was the result of a ransom arrangement. 

Authorities initially said gunmen abducted 317 girls in the raid on the Government Girls Secondary School in remote Jangebe village on Friday.

But Zamfara state Governor Bello Matawalle said the “total number of female students abducted” was 279. No reason has been given for the error. 

Nigeria has seen several armed kidnappings in recent years, especially in Zamfara state, where demands are made for ransoms. 

The most high-profile school kidnapping in Nigeria involved more than 250 mostly Christian girls abducted by the radical Islamic group Boko Haram in the northern town of Chibok in 2014.  

Dozens of the girls from the Chibok school have not been returned home.

VOA News