Pupils and students from three different schools in three Nigerian states have been released by their kidnappers, government officials and representatives of the children's families say.
Nearly 100 students, some not even ten years old, who were abducted three months ago from a Muslim school in Tegina in the state of Niger, were reunited with their families on Friday.
The students were kidnapped on May 30 by 200 armed men who came on motorcycles and one of the school children has died in captivity, according to representatives of the school.
Paid ransom
In another kidnapping case, 32 students from a Baptist school are reported to have been released after a ransom was paid.
In July, more than 100 students were abducted from the school by armed men in the state of Kaduna.
Most have since managed to escape or be released.
"Just like with the previous students, we had to pay a ransom for them to be released, but I do not want to tell how much," Pastor Joseph Hayab, who represents the affected families, told AFP.
- We still have 31 left as hostages and we hope that they will be released soon, he continues.
Kidnappings common
In the neighboring state of Zamfara, another 18 young people and employees have been released, according to the state police.
They were captured from an agricultural college earlier in August.
Mass abductions of schoolchildren are common in Nigeria.
From the beginning, extremist groups were often behind it, but other criminal groups have also begun to take school children and students hostage.
The Nigerian authorities blame the kidnappings on what they call "masked bandits, looking for ransoms".