Authorities: Nearly 70 students freed in northern Nigeria

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in northern Nigeria say nearly 70 students kidnapped from their school two weeks ago are now freed. Zamfara state Gov. Bello Matawalle says that security forces rescued the students from the Government Day Secondary School with the help of some of the gunmen who had repented. Heavily armed men had descended on the school on Sept. 1, the latest attack in a wave of school kidnappings in northern Nigeria that prompted the government to shut down all primary and secondary schools in Zamfara state. Police have said that 73 students were abducted and that five were rescued a day later.