Students, teachers and relatives kidnapped two weeks ago at a school in northern Nigeria were released.
The students, teachers and family members were kidnapped on February 17 by armed men from Government Science College Kagara.
Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said he received 24 students, six employees and eight relatives on Saturday after they were released early in the morning.
The figure released differed from the 42 people the governor had originally said had been kidnapped by the attackers, indicating that some may still be missing. The discrepancy has not been explained.
One of the students was hospitalized for excessive exhaustion, he said, adding that the released man will be examined clinically and monitored for a few days before being reunited with his family.
Sani Bello said that joint security efforts, traditional leaders and stakeholders have helped secure the release.
The release was announced a day after police said gunmen had kidnapped 317 girls from a boarding school elsewhere in northern Nigeria, in the state of Zamfara. One resident said the armed men also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from interfering with mass kidnapping.
Several large groups of armed men operate in the state of Zamfara, described by the government as bandits, and are known for kidnapping for money and pushing for the release of their members from prison.
Masauda Umar, 20, managed to escape from school when the men arrived on Friday.
She told the Associated Press that the bandits went to their dorms and after knocking on the front door, they knocked on the people who answered and got everyone together.
“I was walking out the door and found someone, but I ran back and hid under my bed,” she said. “I’m scared to go back to school because of what happened really scared me, but I will be back if the government fights insecurity.”
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday that the government’s main objective is to make sure all the hostages at the school are returned safely, alive and unharmed.
“We are not going to succumb to the blackmail of bandits and criminals who target innocent students in the expectation of huge ransom payments,” he said. “May bandits, kidnappers and terrorists not have the illusion that they are more powerful than the government.”
Nigeria has witnessed several attacks and kidnappings over the years, notably the mass kidnapping in April 2014 by the jihadist group Boko Haram of 276 high school girls in Chibok, in the state of Borno. Over a hundred girls are still missing.
In December, 344 students were kidnapped from the Kankara Government Secondary School of Science in the state of Katsina. They were finally released.