Eight female students kidnapped by gunmen in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna have escaped from their captors. They had been held by the kidnappers in a ''thick forest,'' the authorities said.
In a statement, Kaduna state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan said the captives after fleeing from the forest, the students ''walked for days'' to a location.
They were then ''safely evacuated to a military facility'' for medical attention.
The female students were seized were then evacuated by the authorities. The Kaduna state government said the students from Government Secondary School, Awon were kidnapped by ''terrorists'' earlier this month on their way from school. It is not immediately clear how they managed to escape.
Kidnappings for ransom are relatively common in Nigeria with armed gangs targeting travelers, students and rural communities.
A number of schools, colleges and universities have been attacked with hundreds of students seized.
The authorities have been trying the tackle the violence with troops intensifying bombardments of the gangs' forest hideouts.
