Up to 82 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls are released by Boko Haram - more than THREE YEARS after they were abducted
By Paddy Dinham For Mailonline
Up to 82 Chibok schoolgirls have been released by Islamist Boko Haram militants on after more than three years in captivity, a Nigerian government spokesman said.
They are the largest group yet to be freed after years of tense negotiations between the government and the terrorist group.
The girls were among about 220 students abducted from a secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014, sparking a global campaign #bringbackourgirls supported by then U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and list of celebrities.
The release of 82 Chibok schoolgirls by Boko Haram brought emotional scenes from their families in Nigeria
This mother is tearfully reunited with her daughter after three years, in which the girl has been living under the captivity of the terror group
Another woman cannot hide her emotion as the girls came back to their village earlier today
They are the largest group yet to be freed after years of tense negotiations between the government and the terrorist group
21 Chibok girls were released in October in a deal brokered by Switzerland and the International Red Cross, while a handful of others have escaped or been rescued.
However, a large number of the girls are still missing.
'The government will soon release an official statement,' a government spokesman said.
Last month President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement that the government was 'in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed'.
The girls were taken from a school in Chibok in the remote northeastern Borno state where Boko Haram has waged an insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state that has killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
Up to 82 Chibok schoolgirls have been released by Islamist Boko Haram militants on after more than three years in captivity
21 Chibok girls were released in October in a deal brokered by Switzerland and the International Red Cross
Although the Chibok girls are the most high-profile case, Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of adults and children, many of whose cases have been neglected.
The militants have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million during their insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.
- Where they can practice their religion of peace!
Despite the army saying the insurgency is on the run, large parts of the northeast, particularly in Borno state, remain under threat from the militants, and suicide bombings and gun attacks have increased in the region since the end of the rainy season late last year.
This is great news, and I rejoice with the girls and their families and pray for a successful transition back into society. But that will not be easy, I'm afraid.
Also, there are still thousands of children and adults being held against their will and used as slaves and sex-slaves by Boko Haram.
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