LAGOS, Nigeria

UNICEF confirmed on Thursday that 100 students and a teacher were abducted by gunmen from a school in Nigeria's northwest Zamfara State.

UNICEF’s country representative Peter Haekins said his organization was notified Wednesday of the attack at the Government Day Secondary School in Kaya, Zamfara State.

He said the students were between 14 and 19 years old.

"Of the abducted students, 23 escaped and returned home – two of them with bullet wounds," he said

Haekins condemned the attack, which came just days after the release of students who were earlier abducted in the north-central Niger State and asked authorities to take "expedited action" to rescue the students and reunite them with their families.

“Attacks on schools and abduction of learners are a gross violation of children’s rights, and a horrific experience for children to go through," he said.

The confirmation on the number of abductees was the first official figure since the attack.

Mass abduction of students and attacks on schools have been on the rise in the northern region since January.