Abuja - The Nigerian government on Thursday announced the release of 21 of the more than 200 schoolgirls the Boko Haram terror group kidnapped in Chibok in the northeast of the country in 2014.
The release of the girls, who had not been named at the time of going to press, is the outcome of negotiations between the Nigerian administration and Boko Haram brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government. “The negotiations will continue,” Garba Sheu, the spokesperson of President Muhammadu Buhari, said.
She said the unnamed girls have been released and are in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS). DSS director-general Malam Daura had briefed Buhari on the state of the girls' minds. They were said to be “very tired.” “Daura wants the girls to rest before he hands them over to the vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.”
Buhari was due to embark on a trip to Germany. He welcomed the release of the girls, but cautioned Nigerians to be mindful of the fact that more than 30 000 fellow citizens were killed as a result of terrorism. It was reported the girls had been released in return for four Boko Haram prisoners.
The girls were among over 200 school pupils abducted from their dormitory bed in Chibok in the north-eastern Nigerian state of Borno on April 14, 2014.
In May this year, the first of the girls and her baby were found near the Sambisa Forest in the north east of Nigeria.
African News Agency - CAJ