In Nigeria, the hunt for nearly 300 schoolchildren abducted by gunmen goes on. But the governor of Kuduna State has told the BBC that at least 28 of those children have escaped their captors. The Nigerian Army is leading the search for the children who were abducted from the northwest town of Kariga in Kuduna State. Reports say students between the ages of eight and 15 were taken, along with a teacher. The abductions have been blamed on Ansaru, a breakaway faction of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Victims of kidnappings usually pay a ransom to secure their freedom. A controversial law, though, passed in 2022, made it a crime to make ransom payments with a potential jail sentence of at least 15 years. But many victims feel they have no choice but to pay. Our West Africa Correspondent, Myenne Jones, updated me on this story from Madaguri.

The military is currently running a rescue operation in Kadoona State, but also in the neighboring states of Katsina and Zamfara, which are all kidnapping hotspots here in Northern Nigeria. They're working alongside the police and local vigilante groups. Some of the students' parents have also joined the search. They're going to local communities, trying to find out if anybody's seen anything at all.

What are the families of those missing children saying?

They're incredibly distressed. The governor of the state, Ubasani, visited the school the day the kidnapping happened on Thursday. A number of them spoke to him. He said that they felt abandoned, that there wasn't enough security in the community, and they pleaded with him to help find their children. This has become a huge national and international story. The President here, Bolame Tinnabu, He released a statement yesterday saying he'd do everything possible to return the children. Every single one had to be returned. He said anything less than that wouldn't be acceptable to him. The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, also released a statement late last night, condemning abductions and saying that the children should be released as soon as possible.

Mayani, what more is known about the 28 children who managed to escape?

Not very much, unfortunately. The governor spoke to the BBC yesterday today. All he would say is that 28 children were released. He wouldn't give any more details. He said that's because he didn't want to jeopardize the ongoing rescue operation. But the 28 students who've come out, their parents would be absolutely delighted to see them, particularly because this is an area of the country that's very remote. We believe they've been taken into nearby forests that are very dense. They wouldn't have very much in terms of water or food to eat with. And so the conditions these children are in are really a cause for concern for their parents.