Fifty children escape after school abduction in Nigeria

Fifty of the 315 children kidnapped by gunmen from a Catholic school in Nigeria's Niger State on Friday have escaped, the BBC reports.

The Christian Association of Nigeria says they have been reunited with their families. A major military-led search and rescue operation is under way for the remaining 265 children and 12 teachers who were taken with them.

Authorities in several Nigerian states ordered schools to shut following the mass abduction in Niger and another smaller hostage-taking in Kebbi state on Monday when 25 pupils were kidnapped from a boarding school.

In response to the spate of abductions, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered the recruitment of an additional 30,000 police officers.

In another development, 38 people abducted from a church service in Kwara state last week were freed on Sunday, the state governor said.

Two people were killed in the attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku.

Orders were given for many schools to close in the states of Kebbi, Niger, Katsina, Yobe and Kwara.