<span style="color: #222222;">In Nigeria, gunmen have released 42 people, including 27 students, who were kidnapped from a boarding school last week in the north-central state of Niger.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Executive Governor of Niger State Abubakar Sani Bello said, the abducted students, staff and relatives have regained their freedom and have been received by the Niger State Government.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Their release comes just a day after a separate raid on a school in Nigeria's Zamfara state where gunmen abducted more than 300 girls.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The recent attacks have raised concern about rising violence by armed gangs and groups and in Nigeria. Armed group Boko Haram carries out abductions in Nigeria's turbulent northeast. </span><br />''  <br />