Fifty of the more than 300 students kidnapped from a Nigerian Catholic school last week have escaped and have been reunited with their parents, the Catholic Church and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Sunday. But around 253 of those kidnapped, including 12 staff members and teachers, are still with the kidnappers, said CAN chairman Bulus Yohanna, a Catholic Bishop who is also the proprietor of the school. In a statement, Yohanna said the pupils escaped between Friday and Saturday. Parents rushed to the school in Niger state, to the west of the capital Abuja, after hearing that some children were free. Amose Ibrahim was one of the parents who went to St. Mary’s school to check if any of his three children had escaped. “Unfortunately, they were not among the escapees,” Ibrahim, whose youngest child is six years old, told Reuters by phone. “As of now, many parents and their loved ones are roaming around the school.” Nigeria faces scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump who in early November threatened military action over the treatment of Christians in the country.

Full report: Fifty kidnapped Catholic school students in Nigeria escape.