Fifty children kidnapped from Nigerian Catholic school escape captivity

Fifty of the more than 300 children snatched by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria have escaped their captors, a Christian group said on Sunday.

Gunmen on Friday raided St Mary's co-education school in Niger state, taking 303 children and 12 teachers in one of the largest mass kidnappings in Nigeria.

The abduction came days after gunmen stormed a secondary school in neighbouring Kebbi state, abducting 25 girls.

"We have received some good news as 50 pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents," said the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in a statement, adding they escaped between Friday and Saturday.

Schools closed

The number of boys and girls – aged between eight and 18 years – kidnapped from St Mary's is almost half of the school's student population of over 600.

There remain 251 primary school pupils, 14 secondary students and 12 teachers still in captivity, the statement said.

"As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims," CAN chairperson in Niger State, Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, who is also the school owner, said in the statement.

Mounting security fears in Nigeria have sparked a wave of school closures across the country.