AKIPRESS.COM - Scores of female students kidnapped by suspected Islamic militants from a school in the north-east of Nigerian have been freed, Nigeria's military reported on Wednesday.

Only eight of more than 100 students are unaccounted for, major general Chris Olukolade said in a statement that gave no details. "The others have been freed this evening," he said.

The government had reported that security forces were in pursuit of militants who abducted more than 100 females from a high school early on Tuesday.

The Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima, told reporters that 129 students were kidnapped and at least 14 freed themselves. Four of the students – aged between 16 and 18 – jumped off the back of a truck and 10 escaped when their kidnappers asked them to cook and were not paying attention.

The abductions came hours after an explosion blamed on extremists killed 75 people in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, angering citizens who are questioning government and military claims that they are containing a 5-year-old Islamic uprising. Two more attacks killed 20 people on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in villages in the north-east, according to The Guardian.