Kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls have been released, official says

FILE PHOTO: A view of metal beds in a hostel room after gunmen attacked a government girls' boarding school in Nigeria's Kebbi State on November 17, killing the vice principal and abducting 25 female students, according to police, Kebbi, Nigeria, in this screengrab taken from a handout video released on November 18, 2025. Africa Independent Television/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) -Twenty-four girls who were abducted from a government boarding school in northwestern Nigeria last week have been released, the state governor's media aide said on Tuesday.

The girls were seized on November 17 when armed men stormed their school in Kebbi state shortly after a military detachment left the premises. The attack triggered a wave of copycat kidnappings in Kwara and Niger states, authorities said.