The pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday and have since been reunited with their parents, CAN chairman Bulus Yohanna said in a statement.

Around 253 children, including 12 staff members, are still with the kidnappers, added Yohanna, a Catholic Bishop who is also the proprietor of the school.

Gunmen kidnapped students and teachers from St. Mary’s school in the northwest of the country on Friday, the latest in a spate of school attacks this week that has forced the government to shut 47 colleges.

Pope Leo asked on Sunday for the immediate release of children and staff abducted, one of the worst mass kidnappings ever recorded there.

“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages,” Pope Leo said at the end of a mass in St Peter’s Square in Rome.