Boko Haram Releases Another 82 Abducted Chibok Girls

The Boko Haram insurgents group has released another 82 of the remaining school girls kidnapped from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in 2014, a report by SaharaReporters has said.

The online news platform said a top military source broke the news of the release of the girls.

The source, according to the report said the release of the 80 abducted school girls came after further negotiations between the Islamist group and the Muhammadu administration. The source he was not in a position to disclose the terms of an agreement that led to today’s mass release of the Chibok school girls.

The 82 girls who just regained their freedom are currently in Banki town in Borno state awaiting airlift to an unknown destination, the report said.

The source added that once the girls are secured in a new location they would be debriefed, undergo a psycological and medical test and then be reunited with their families.

Nearly 300 girls were abducted from their dormitories in 2014 as they prepared to write their final exams.

Twenty one of them were earlier released in October 2016, following a deal brokered by the International Red Cross between the Nigerian government and the insurgents group.

Two other girls were found separately, in addition to those who escaped on the night of their abduction, bringing to over 50 those who regained freedom.

Soon after the release of the girls in October, the sect is reported to have stated that based its condition for the release of 83 more girls, on ransom payment and freedom for no fewer than 16 of Boko Haram commanders by the government. The first release was said to have been a test of government’s level of commitment and sincerity, despite claims in some quarters that the released was made possible with the swap of some Boko Haram commanders, a claim the government vehemently denied.

President Buhari had in his message on the 3 years anniversary of the abduction of the girls said the government is in touch with negotiators to free the remaining girls.

Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari said the government remained “in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed”.

“Like I have repeatedly said, the Federal Government is willing to bend over backwards to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls. We have reached out to their captors, through local and international intermediaries, and we are ever ready to do everything within our means to ensure the safe release of ALL the girls”, Buhari said.