Police in northwest Nigeria's Kebbi state told AFP Sunday that the death toll from an attack by a gang of cattle thieves on seven villages Thursday had risen to 88.

All 279 Nigerian students kidnapped from their boarding school in the northern state of Zamfara have been released and are on government premises, the governor of the state told AFP Tuesday.

Kidnappers have freed 42 people, including 27 children, snatched from a school in central Nigeria 10 days ago, officials said on Saturday, a day after more than 300 schoolgirls were abducted by gunmen in the northwest.

Suspected armed bandits have taken away girls from a school hostel in Zamfara, northwest Nigeria, a teacher told AFP Friday.

Gunmen have abducted 42 people, including 27 students, from a school in central Nigeria, a local government official said Wednesday, downplaying initial reports that hundreds had been taken.

A teenage girl killed at least three people when she blew herself up in a crowd in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, militia and humanitarian sources told AFP Saturday.

More than 300 schoolboys abducted last week by armed men in northwest Nigeria have been released, a government official said Thursday.

In an announcement on Nigerian state TV, NTA, Katsina State Gov. Aminu Bello Masari said the 344 boarding school students were turned over to security officials and were being brought to the state capital, where they will get physical examinations before being reunited with their families.

Jihadist group Boko Haram on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of school students in northwest Nigeria.

Nigeria police said Friday that 22 officers were killed and 205 police stations destroyed during nationwide protests this month and denied reports it had shot at peaceful demonstrators.

Nigeria's president has urged an end to unrest sweeping the country but avoided mentioning the police shooting of unarmed demonstrators that sparked international condemnation and unleashed chaos in Africa's biggest city.