Boko Haram frees kidnapped girls, with stark warning

Boko Haram extremists returned almost all of the 110 girls abducted from their Nigeria boarding school a month ago with an ominous warning, witnesses said Wednesday.

The fighters rolled into Dapchi around 2 a.m. in nine vehicles and the girls were left in the centre of town. As terrified residents emerged from their homes, the extremists said “this is a warning to you all,” resident Ba’ana Musa told The Associated Press.

“We did it out of pity. And don’t ever put your daughters in school again,” the extremists said. Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language.

Nigeria’s information minister said 91 of the 110 schoolgirls had been confirmed freed. The fate of the others was not immediately clear.

“No ransoms were paid,” the minister, Lai Mohammed, said in a statement. The girls were released “through back-channel efforts and with the help of some friends of the country, and it was unconditional.”

Family members were en route to the town Wednesday morning.

HAMZA SULEIMAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Nigerian army Maj.-Gen. Rogers Nicholas carries a schoolgirl, one of 91 who were freed by Boko Haram extremists, during a handover in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on Wednesday. An estimated 110 girls were kidnapped last month.