The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says the abducted Kuriga students were rescued through a coordinated rescue operation by the military in collaboration with local authorities and government agencies.
The primary and secondary school students, abducted on March 7, were rescued in the early hours of Sunday.
In a statement on Sunday, Edward Buba, director of defence media operations, said a total of 137 persons comprising 76 females and 61 males were rescued in Zamfara.
Buba said the rescued persons would be handed over to the Kaduna government for further action.
“Relatedly, it would be recalled that on March 21, troops equally rescued 16 pupils (Almajiris) with a woman taken hostage in Gada local government area of Sokoto state,” he said.
“These hostages were handed over to the Sokoto state government.
“These efforts demonstrate the armed forces resolve to finding other innocent hostages and track down the terrorists that perpetrated these crimes.