Nigerian gunmen free dozens of kidnapped seminary pupils

Nigerian gunmen have freed the remaining pupils from more than 100 kidnapped from an Islamic seminary in northwestern Niger State nearly three months ago, the school's head teacher said on Thursday.

Heavily armed criminals snatched 136 pupils from the seminary in Tegina on May 30 in one of a series of mass abductions targeting schools and colleges in Nigeria since December.

Six of the pupils died in captivity and a further 15 escaped in June, according to school officials.

"The pupils have all been released. We are now conveying them home," seminary head Abubakar Alhassan told AFP by telephone.

"I can't give you an exact number now. We will have to screen them when we get home. But none of the pupils is in captivity."