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Fifty of the 303 students kidnapped from a Nigerian Catholic school on Friday have escaped and are now reunited with their families, officials said Sunday, as schools across Niger remain closed following the attack.

The students, ages 10 to 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the school’s proprietor.

A total of 253 students and 12 teachers from St. Mary’s School are still being held, Yohanna said, adding: “We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents.”

Officials did not provide further details about how the children escaped or where the remaining students and teachers were be

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