42 people, including students, abducted from a school in Nigeria have been freed

An official said that 42 people, including students, who were abducted from a school in northern Nigeria last week have been freed.

On Feb. 17, armed men stormed into the Government Science College Kagara, in Niger State and kidnapped 27 teenage boys, three school employees and 12 members of their families. One student was killed during the raid.

News of their release was confirmed by Gov. Abubakar Sani Bello on Saturday morning on Twitter.

“The Abducted Students, Staff and Relatives of Government Science Collage Kagara have regained their freedom and have been received by the Niger State Government,” he tweeted.

He also shared a video that shows a group of boys exiting a vehicle.

“Abducted #KagaraStudents that regained their freedom earlier today arrive [at] Government House Minna,” he wrote.

According to the Nigerian Tribune, UNICEF Nigeria representative Peter Hawkins said he was “relieved to receive the long-awaited news of the release of 27 students,” adding that he looks forward “to their safe return to their families.”

An empty class room following an attack by gunmen at Government Science College, Kagara, Nigeria, on Feb. 18. (AP PHOTO/)

The news comes a day after an armed group of men stormed a different boarding school in northern Nigeria and kidnapped 317 girls.

The BBC reported Saturday that Nigerian police has set up “a coordinated search and rescue operation, involving the deployment of both ground and aerial assets” in search of the missing girls.

“As we welcome the news of the release of the abducted Kagara students,” Hawkins said, “I urge government to expedite action on the release and safe return of the kidnapped students of Government Girls Secondary School Jangebe, and all abducted schoolchildren yet to be released.”

School kidnappings are common in the north of the country, and they are usually carried out for ransom.

After the Feb. 17 abduction, Osai Ojigho, the director of Amnesty International Nigeria, condemned the “appalling attack,” adding that “attacks on schools and abductions of children are war crimes. Those found to be responsible [for] the abduction must be brought to justice for these and other human rights abuses.”