32 kidnapped Nigerian students regain freedom: police

LAGOS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian police on Saturday confirmed that another batch of 32 students kidnapped by gunmen from a secondary school in the country's northwestern state of Kaduna has regained freedom.

The students of Bethel Baptist High School were freed on Friday, about a week after 15 kidnapped students of the school were freed on August 21, said Mohammed Jalige, a spokesman for the Kaduna police, in a telephone interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

Jalige did not provide further details of the release or whether a ransom was paid.

The released students were among an unspecified number of students kidnapped from the Bethel Baptist High School in Chikun local government area of Kaduna on July 5, following an attack by unknown gunmen in large numbers.

John Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna, who also confirmed the release of the students, said 32 students were freed on Friday evening.

"We still have 31 with the captors and we are praying that they too will be released soon," he said.

There have been a series of gunmen attacks in Nigeria in recent months, leading to deaths and kidnappings.