At least 28 of the nearly 300 schoolchildren kidnapped by gunmen have escaped in Nigeria. Nigeria's Kaduna state governor has been quoted by news agencies stating this.<br />''Nigeria's army is leading a desperate search for the children taken in the northern town of Kuriga on Thursday.<br />''<br />''Troops are working with police and local search teams to comb the forests within Kaduna and neighbouring states.<br />''<br />''The kidnapping is the biggest mass abduction from a school since 2021.<br />''<br />''School authorities and parents said, gangs of motorcycle-riding armed men took nearly 300 primary and secondary school children between the ages of eight and 15. Almost every family in the town is thought to have a child among those kidnapped.<br />''<br />''The kidnappings followed women and children taken from a remote town in Borno state the day before.<br />''<br />''Kidnappings for ransom by armed men have become endemic in northern Nigeria, keeping thousands of children from attending school.<br />''<br />''In 2022, Nigeria passed a law banning ransom payments to kidnappers and imposed a 15-year jail term for making payments. It also made abduction punishable by death in cases where victims die.<br />