The students were on their way to a conference in Benue State when they were abducted by gunmen.

Twenty Nigerian medical students who were kidnapped on their way to a conference have been released more than a week after their abduction, police said.

On August 15, the students were arrested by gunmen as they were on their way to a conference in Benue State, in the center of the country. They later demanded a ransom.

“We confirm the release on Friday of our brothers and sisters and some other Nigerians who were held captive in Ntunkon Forest, Benue State,” Nigerian police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi said on Saturday.

The state police said in a statement that they had confirmed “the release of the 20 students of the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos”.

The students were released “without the payment of any ransom.” The group was “rescued tactically and professionally,” Adejobi said.

The country’s police chief this week deployed a “tactical unit” to Benue state as part of efforts to find the latest victims of a growing wave of kidnappings in Africa’s most populous country.

Fortune Olaye, secretary general of the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association (NIMSA), also confirmed the release to AFP news agency. “We have spoken to them on the phone. They are safe,” Olaye said.

The students were abducted while travelling in a convoy of two buses near the town of Otukpo, less than 150 kilometres from Enugu, a frequent site of attacks and kidnappings.

Armed gangs are kidnapping villagers, students and motorists for ransom in northern Nigeria, with security forces unable to stop the practice.

Thousands of people are kidnapped for ransom in Nigeria each year, although there are few reliable statistics because many cases go unreported. Kidnapping cases have increased significantly due to a severe economic crisis that is driving more people to crime.

Nigerian consultancy SBM Intelligence reports that 4,777 kidnappings took place in the country between the takeover of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May 2023 and January 2024.