Six of the 136 students kidnapped from a school in North-Central Nigeria have died in captivity.
The students were abducted in May by bandits on motorcycles who raided the Salihu Tanko Nursery/Primary and Junior Secondary School, Zungeru Junction, Tegina town in Niger State on May 29.
They have since demanded a ransom to release the students.
But, the school principal, Abubakar Garba Alhasan, in an update said the kidnappers called to say the children died from sickness and to urge that the ransom demand be met.
Also, a man, Abubakar Adam, whose seven children are held by the gang, said the abductors called the principal to demand a ransom.
Last month, the bandits failed to let a 60-year-old man from the community, who had been sent to pay ransom to secure the release of the students, return to his family because the money he brought was short.
Alhassan said, at the time, that the school and parents had been negotiating with the kidnappers who demanded N30 million to release the students from the school.
Alhassan said the school had contributed to a ransom and some parents sold property to raise cash given to the negotiator.
Since December, armed groups have raided schools and universities in northern Nigeria, abducting more than 1,000 students for ransom.
On Sunday, kidnappers released 15 more students taken a month ago from a Bethel Baptist school in Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria after their parents paid an undisclosed ransom.