Abuja - Twenty-one of the more than 200 girls kidnapped over two years ago in a raid on their school in Chibok town by Boko Haram militants have been released, the BBC reported on Thursday citing a government official.
According to the BBC, the freed girls are now in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri with representatives of the country's security services.
No details on how the girls were freed were available.
Boko Haram is a Nigeria-based extremist group which maintains ties with Islamic State, a terrorist group outlawed in the United States, Russia and many other countries. Recently, the group has expanded its activities to Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
In April 2014, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from a boarding school in the northeastern town of Chibok. Some of them escaped while hundreds are still missing.
Two spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari told Reuters they were unaware of the report.
Military spokesmen have not responded to phone calls or text messages.
Reuters, Sputnik