Joy as 82 kidnapped Nigerian girls freed

EIGHTY-TWO of the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in northeast Nigeria in 2014 headed yesterday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari after a prisoner swap deal with Boko Haram secured their release.

The presidency announced late on Saturday that months of talks with the jihadists had yielded results six months after 21 of their classmates were freed with the help of international mediators.

“Today 82 more Chibok girls were released,” a statement 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.

But it is believed three Chadian nationals, allegedly senior commanders under Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, were handed over.

Military and civilian militia sources in the town of Banki, on the border with Cameroon, said the girls left for the Borno state capital Maiduguri on board six military helicopters early yesterday.

“One of the girls was carrying a baby with her, a boy of less than two years,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

The presidency said the teenagers would be brought to Abuja to meet Buhari, who was swept to power on a promise to defeat Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed at least 20 000 people in Nigeria since 2009.

Shehu Sani, a Nigerian senator who has been involved in previous negotiations, said the government would now look to secure the release of the remaining girls.

Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in the remote town of Chibok on the evening of April 14 2014 and kidnapped 276 teenaged girls preparing to sit high school exams.

Fifty-seven managed to escape in the hours that followed but the remaining 219 were held by the group.

Boko Haram’s Shekau claimed in a video message they had converted to Islam.

The audacious kidnapping brought the insurgency to world attention, triggering global outrage that galvanised support from former US first lady Michelle Obama and Hollywood stars.

The girls have become a symbol of the conflict.

Last month, parents and supporters marked the third anniversary of the abduction, describing the situation as an unending nightmare.

But they said previous releases had given them strength.

Enoch Mark, a Christian pastor whose two daughters were among those kidnapped, said of the latest releases: “This is good news. We have been waiting for this day. We have hope for the remaining girls.”

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) deputy regional director for Africa, Patrick Yousef, confirmed the group had facilitated the safe return of the girls as a neutral intermediary.

The Swiss government was also involved, Nigeria said.

Boko Haram has used kidnapping as a weapon of war, seizing thousands of women and children, and forcibly recruiting young men and boys into their ranks.

A total of 113 Chibok girls are now missing, although some are believed to have died in military air strikes.

One of the girls was carrying a baby with her, a boy of less than two