Lagos, Aug 23 (IANS): Nigerian police has confirmed that 15 students kidnapped by gunmen from a secondary school in the country's northwestern state of Kaduna have been freed.

The students of Bethel Baptist High School were freed on Saturday night after 48 days in captivity, Mohammed Jalige, a spokesman for the police in Kaduna, told Xinhua news agency on Sunday.

The released students were among an unspecified number of students kidnapped from the Bethel Baptist High School in Chikun local government area of Kaduna on July 5, following an attack by unknown gunmen in large numbers.

John Joseph Hayab, the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna, told media that 15 students of the school were released on Saturday night while 65 students are still in captivity, and the CAN and other stakeholders were still in negotiation with the gunmen.

There have been a series of gunmen attacks in Nigeria in recent months, leading to deaths and kidnappings.