MAIDUGURI (Nigeria) – Nearly 300 students and staff abducted by gunmen from a school in northern Nigeria in March have been released unharmed, the office of the governor of the state of Kaduna said on March 24, days before a deadline to pay a 1 billion naira (S$918,250) ransom.

The kidnapping of 287 students on March 7 in Kuriga, a dusty town in north-western Kaduna State, was the first mass kidnapping in the country since 2021, when more than 150 students were taken from a high school in Kaduna.

A security source said the students were rescued in a forest in neighbouring Zamfara state and were being escorted by the army to the Kaduna capital for medical tests before being reunited with their families.

Abductions at Nigerian schools were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram, which seized 276 students from a girls’ school in Chibok in north-eastern Borno State a decade ago. Some of the girls have never been released.

Since then, the tactic has been widely adopted by criminal gangs without ideological affiliation.

Kaduna governor Uba Sani said the country’s national security adviser had coordinated the release of the children. He did not provide further details.

“The Nigerian Army also deserves special commendation for showing that with courage, determination and commitment, criminal elements can be degraded and security restored in our communities,” Mr Sani said.

The government had said it would not pay any ransom, a practice outlawed in 2022.

The gunmen had last week demanded a total of 1 billion naira for the release of the missing children and staff.

Kidnappings by criminal gangs demanding ransoms have become an almost daily occurrence, especially in northern Nigeria.

Families and communities have been torn apart, trying to pool savings to pay ransoms, which have often forced them to sell land, cattle and grain to secure their loved ones’ release. REUTERS