Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in Niger State have escaped captivity and reunited with their families, school authorities confirmed on Sunday, as global calls intensified for the release of those still missing.

The pupils, aged 10 to 18, fled their captors between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State and proprietor of the school.

Yohanna said a total of 253 children and 12 teachers remain in captivity, days after armed assailants stormed the school and abducted hundreds.

“We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” he said in a statement, noting that the escapees returned home individually rather than in a group.

Security agencies are continuing search-and-rescue operations across the vast forested areas surrounding the region, while anxious families await updates on the fate of their children.