Boko Haram releases 82 of 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls
ABUJA: Nigeria on Saturday said it had negotiated the release of 82 of the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists more than three years ago, securing their freedom in a prisoner swap deal.
The presidency announced that months of talks with the jihadists had “yielded results”, just over six months after 21 of their classmates were freed with the help of international mediators.
“Today 82 more Chibok girls were released,” it said.
“After lengthy negotiations, our security agencies have taken back these girls, in exchange for some Boko Haram suspects held by the authorities.”
No details were given about how many suspects were released or their identities.
The girls were to be taken to Abuja on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidency said, thanking security agencies, the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“The president has repeatedly expressed his total commitment towards ensuring the safe return of the Chibok girls and all other Boko Haram captives,” the ICRC added. LONDON: A century after the controversial ICS officer John Comyn Higgins raised the Manipur Labour Corps to help France during World War I, his littleknown market town of Alford in Lincolnshire is paying tributes to the men and its links with the north-eastern state.
Alford mayor Richard Quantrell recalled the history when 2,000 men from Manipur were recruited in May 1917 to be deployed in France. Many died on the way to Italy and later in France; graves have been discovered in France, Italy, Egypt and Yemen.
Prayers were said and a twominute silence was observed in the commemoration in the local church this week attended by members of the British Legion and others.
The Kohima War Cemetery’s evocative epitaph was read out: 'When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.'
The commemoration was followed by the opening of an exhibition that brings together diaries written by Higgins, whose actions were also responsible for the Kuki Uprising.
The exhibition includes carefully re-created royal clothes of the then Maharaja Churachand Singh and Maharani Dhanamanjuri Devi (‘phanek’ dress), and items related to the Kuki Uprising and experiences of men in the Manipur Labour Corps.
A town with less than 3,500 residents, Alford, 141 miles north-east of London, was the home of Higgins, who qualified for the Indian Civil Service in 1905, and worked in Manipur from 1910 to 1933 as the political agent and president of the Manipur State Darbar, among other roles.
Higgins is known in Manipur for his role in suppressing the two-year Kuki Uprising from 1917, which saw tribes fiercely battling British forces and the latter burning several villages during the clashes.
He and his family also developed close links with the royal family.
For over 150 years, Higgins and his family lived in the most famous house in town, the Alford Manor House, built in 1611. Turned into a museum since 1967, the trust running it has put together the exhibition that runs until December.
Sarah Teesdale, researcher and trustee of the Alford Manor House Museum, told Hindustan