All Nigerian students kidnapped from their boarding school on Friday in the north-western state of Zamfara have been released, a local official said on Tuesday. Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle said that girls, who were kidnapped from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in the Jangebe town on Friday, were released through negotiations early Tuesday.

"Following a series of dialogue and mediation with repentant bandits and scaling hurdles of those who want to scuttle our effort to secure the release of Jangebe schoolgirls, I am happy to announce that, the students have been released," Matawalle said in a statement. Local police said on Friday that a total of 317 students were abducted by gunmen from the all-girls secondary school in Zamfara. But some local officials put the number at 279 on Tuesday, according to media reports. The released schoolgirls arrived at the Zamfara State Government House in the state's capital Gusau, at about 4 am local time (0300 GMT) Tuesday to reunite with their families.

The governor insisted no ransom was paid for the release of the schoolgirls, adding it was a positive result of the peace accord he initiated. "No ransom was paid to anyone. I insisted that we were not going to give anything to any of them," he said. Another government official said that an arrangement was being made for the schoolgirls for examination at a medical facility.