Dozens of schoolchildren kidnapped during a rare attack in southwest Nigeria in May have been rescued, a presidential spokesman said on Friday.

Gunmen who Nigeria's army accused of being Boko Haram terrorists abducted 46 pupils and staff from three schools in the southwestern state of Oyo on May 15.

"Finally, all the kidnapped pupils and teachers in Orire, Oyo have been rescued by our security agencies," Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu's spokesman, said in a post on X showing pictures of some of the children.

Southwest Nigeria has long been considered one of the safest regions in a country struggling with multiple security crises.

Kidnappings for ransom are an ongoing battle for authorities in Nigeria's northern regions.

But the mass abductions have been unusual in the southern part of the country.

Oyo is one of Nigeria's most populous states, and its capital, Ibadan, is a major education hub.

Onanuga said some of the abductors had been killed during the rescue operation, while eight of them were arrested.

He said the "terrorists" had demanded the release of one of their members who is being prosecuted by the authorities.