Jul 25, 2021 - World

28 kidnapped Nigerian students released

Twenty-eight students who were kidnapped by armed gunman from their school in northwest Nigeria were released Sunday, the Associated Press reports.

State of play: Armed gunman stormed Bethel Baptist School on July 5 in Nigeria's Kaduna state and abducted roughly 140 students.

In the weeks since the kidnapping, 34 children were released or escaped, per AP.
Although Sunday's release freed 28 more students, 81 children remain "in captivity," Rev. Ite Joseph Hayab, a pastor involved in the negotiations for their release, told Reuters.

The big picture: Nigerian schools have become regular targets for kidnappings by armed groups seeking ransom.

The kidnapping at Bethel Baptist was the 10th mass kidnapping in Northwest Nigeria, Reuters reports.
The attack was also the fourth on an educational institute in Kaduna in the past five months, according to the BBC.
Since December, more than 1,000 students have been kidnapped in Nigeria and nine have been killed, per the BBC.