The students were seized by an armed gang on their way home from a government secondary school in Awon in the area of Kachia.

Kaduna state security commissioner Samuel Aruwan says the students escaped through a thick forest near the border with Niger state.

The students walked for days before being found by some villagers, he said.

They have been taken to a military facility in Kaduna to receive medical attention, local media reports.

Gangs who operate mostly in remote parts of north-west Nigeria often kidnap students and demand hefty ransom payments for their freedom.