At least 30 students remain unaccounted for after armed gunmen attacked a school in Kaduna in what is the third major school abduction in one month in Nigeria.

The gunmen attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, Igabi local government area of the state late on Thursday, March 11, 2021.

Kaduna's Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement after the incident said the gunmen breached a perimeter fence and encroached about 600 meters to attack the facility.

The gunmen kidnapped numerous students and staff of the institution before they were engaged by military troops deployed to the scene in the early hours of Friday.

Aruwan reported that the military's intervention resulted in the rescue of 172 students, and eight members of staff.

Some of those injured during the attack are receiving medical attention at a military facility.

"However, about 30 students, a mix of males and females, are yet to be accounted for," the commissioner said.

Aruwan said a combined team of Army, Air Force, Police and Department of State (DSS) troops are conducting an operation to track the missing students.