Free at last
82 girls snatched by Boko Haram Islamists released ... but 113 are still missing
More than 80 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram have been freed in exchange for the release of militant prisoners.
The girls were among the 276 abducted by the Islamic terrorist group from their school in Chibok, north-east Nigeria, in 2014.
The deal was completed after tense negotiations between the Islamists and the government.
Pupils who escaped said some of their classmates had died from illness while others had been radicalised by the kidnappers and refused to leave.
Announcing the release of the children yesterday, the Nigerian president’s office said the girls were swapped for five unnamed extremists.
‘Today 82 more Chibok girls were released,’ the government said. ‘After lengthy negotiations, our security agencies have taken back these girls, in exchange for some Boko Haram suspects held by the authorities.’
enoch Mark, a Christian pastor whose two daughters were among those kidnapped, said: ‘We have been waiting for this day ... We hope the remaining girls will soon be released.’
The teenagers form the largest group yet to be freed by the terrorists. The last group to be released was freed in october, when 21 schoolgirls were exchanged for four militants.
While a handful of others have escaped or been rescued, 113 girls are still missing.
Those released yesterday arrived in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, after travelling fromthe borderthe town with of Cameroon,Banki, near on six military helicopters.
A military source said one of the girls was seen carrying a baby – ‘a boy of less than two years’ – conceived in captivity.
The International Committee of the red Cross (ICrC), which said it ‘facilitated the safe return’ of the girls, tweeted the first photographs of the girls.
However, long-suffering family members were last night awaiting a list of names of those who had been released. Amnesty International said the newly-freed schoolgirls did not deserve to be put through a ‘publicity stunt’ and urged them to be returned to their families. The kidnapping prompted global outrage and sparked a campaign, Bring Back our Girls, supported by public figures including Michelle obama and Cara Delevingne. Bukky Shonibare, who works with the campaign, said: ‘ This is very, very exciting news for us.
‘Their life in captivity has been one that depicts suffering ... Some of them have also come back with news of how they have been sexually abused.’
Shehu Sani, a Nigerian senator who has been involved in previous negotiations, said the latest talks took ‘three to four months’ to complete.
Last month, parents and supporters marked the three-year anniversary of the abduction.
Captives were forced to convert to Islam and marry their captors. It is feared others were used as suicide bombers.
The girls have become a symbol of the conflict, in which Boko Haram, an Islamic Stateaffiliated group, has used kidnapping as a weapon of war and forced many young men to fight against their will.
The militants have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced approximately two million during their insurgency, which seeks to establish a caliphate in north-east Nigeria.
‘They’ve been sexually abused’