Two women rescued nine years after Chibok schoolgirls abduction
Two Nigerian women abducted as schoolgirls by a jihadi militant group nine years ago have been rescued, the west African nation’s military has said. One had a one-year-old baby, while the second gave birth to her second child days after being freed.
Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, both 26, were among 276 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram militants in April 2014 from the government girls’ secondary school in the village of Chibok.
They were rescued in April by Nigerian soldiers and reunited with their families in the north-eastern state of Borno, according to Maj Gen Ibrahim Ali, who leads the Nigerian military operation against the extremist violence in the north-east region that has been going on for more than a decade.
Boko Haram fighters stormed the school in Borno nine years ago as the girls were preparing for exams. More than 20 of the girls have regained their freedom in the past year, but nearly 100 are still missing.
Maltha and Marcus were forcibly married to extremists while in captivity, Ali told journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, on Thursday. His comments echoed concerns of parents and activists about the maltreatment of the girls by Boko Haram, whose name in the local Hausa language means “western education is forbidden”.
Both girls were married three times as one husband after another was killed during clashes with the military.
Maiduguri said: “Hauwa was about eight months and two weeks pregnant during her rescue, delivered a bouncing baby boy on 28 April while undergoing thorough medical examination along with her baby, Fatima.”
Hassan Chibok, a local leader, said: “It has made the memories fresh for the parents that their children are still missing.”
Most of the girls who returned home in recent months had escaped from the Sambisa Forest, a known hideout for the extremists. The girls and their parents have said most them had babies after either being forced into marriage or losing hope of ever regaining their freedom.
Since the mass abduction in 2014, Boko Haram has grown in reach and influence. Most of its members now operate as a more brutal faction backed by the Islamic State group. More than 35,000 people have died and over 2 million have been displaced by the extremist violence in Nigeria, according to the UN Development Programme.