New Delhi, Nov. 23 -- Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from St Mary's Catholic school in Niger state have escaped, the school authority said on Sunday (November 23), offering a rare moment of relief amid one of Nigeria's largest mass kidnappings in years.

The children, aged between 10 and 18, escaped separately between Friday and Saturday.

"We have received some good news as fifty pupils escaped and have reunited with their parents," the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said in a statement, AFP reported.

Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, CAN chairman in Niger state and the school's proprietor, said 253 children and 12 teachers remain in captivity.

Gunmen raided St Mary's co-education school on Friday, abducting 303 students ...