Armed kidnappers in Nigeria have released 28 of the more than 120 students who were abducted at the beginning of July from the Bethel Baptist High School in the northern town of Damishi.
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Church officials handed those children over to their parents at the school on Sunday. But the Reverend Israel Akanji, president of the Baptist Convention, said more than 80 other children were still being held by the gunmen.
So far 34 children kidnapped from the school on July 5 have either been released or have escaped from the custody of the gunmen. It is unclear when the other children will be released.
The gunmen have reportedly demanded 500,000 naira ($A1600) for each student.
Akanji said the church did not pay any ransoms because it was opposed to paying criminals, but he added the church was unable to stop the children's families from taking any actions they deemed fit to secure their release.
Nigerian police said security forces and civilian defence forces were on a routine rescue patrol on July 12 around the forests near the village of Tsohon Gaya when they found three exhausted kidnapped victims roaming in the bush.
Two other students escaped on July 20 when they were ordered to fetch firewood from a nearby forest.
Gunmen have carried out a spate of mass abductions from schools in northern Nigeria this year, mainly seeking ransoms.
President Muhammadu Buhari has not been able to do much in addressing the growing cases of mass abductions from Nigerian schools.
Australian Associated Press