Abuja – Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has released 82 of the school girls abducted more than three years ago from their school in the Nigerian town of Chibok, the president’s office said Saturday.
“After lengthy negotiations, our security agencies have taken back these girls, in exchange for some Boko Haram suspects held by the authorities,” a statement, posted on Facebook, said.
The released girls are due to arrive in Abuja on Sunday and will be received by President Muhammadu Buhari, it added.
A file photo of President Muhammadu Buhari with 21 Chibok school girls after receiving them in Abuja, Nigeria, on October 19, 2016. (Credit Image: © Next24online/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press) Photo: Next24online/dpa
The presidential office also expressed Buhari’s “deep gratitude” to a number of parties for helping to secure the release, including the Swiss government, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other local and international NGOs.
Nigeria marked the third anniversary of the kidnapping of the 276 girls, mostly Christians, on April 14.
Their abduction captured the world’s attention, with celebrities and prominent personalities such as former US first lady Michelle Obama joining the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign to free them.
“You can’t imagine how hard my heart is beating right now as I furiously pray that this news of release of 80 of our Chibok girls is true,” said Oby Ezekwesili, a campaign leader, on Twitter before the news was confirmed.
The campaign later said 114 girls remained in captivity.
Boko Haram, which has been active in north-east Nigeria since 2009, wants to create a special Islamic state in the country, as well as in bordering regions of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The group has kidnapped thousands of other women and children over the past years, forcing them into sexual slavery or into marriages with its fighters.
Experts believe some abductees are also forced into becoming suicide bombers.
In April, rights group Amnesty International said it had documented at least 41 other mass abductions by the Islamist group since 2014.
-dpa
