Nigeria has secured the release of another batch of 82 Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants more than three years ago.
The girls, according to government sources, were released on Saturday after negotiation with the militants.
This brings to 103 the number of girls already freed by the militants.
The first batch of 21 girls regained freedom last October, with the aid of the Red Cross and Switzerland. Three other girls walked into freedom on their own, making grand total of 106 girls freed from the clutches of Boko Haram.
‘They are now at Banki, a border town and will be flown to Maiduguri on Sunday,” a government source told NAN Saturday night.
“The story is authentic,’ says the source.
The Bring Back Our Girls (#BBOG) campaigners in a statement on Saturday night also gave hint about the release of the girls, although they said they were awaiting official confirmation.
“We have been made aware of the yet-to-be-confirmed news that a number of our missing 195 Chibok girls in captivity have been released through negotiation,” said Sesugh Akume, spokesperson for BBOG.
“It would be recalled that in October last year when the 21 were released, the Federal Government, specifically the Presidency, said that 83 more were ‘on their way’.
“We await official confirmation from the Federal Government and a release of their names. We shall go to work to confirm the news to verify its authenticity, and communicate same to the public.
“Our hopes and expectations are high as we look forward to this news being true and confirmed.”
A military and a civilian militia source in Banki, near the border with Cameroon, said, “At least 80 girls were brought to the town late afternoon on Saturday.
“The girls are now lodged in the military barracks and will be flown to (the Borno State capital) Maiduguri tomorrow (Sunday),” said the military source.
The civilian militia member gave an identical account.
Enoch Mark, a Christian pastor whose two daughters were among those kidnapped, said he was told of the release by the Bring Back Our Girls pressure group and an official in Maiduguri.
He added: “This is good news to us. We have been waiting for this day. We hope the remaining girls will soon be released.”
Over 270 girls were kidnapped at Chibok Girls Secondary School on April 14, 2014, to the shock of many Nigerians and the international community.
Fifty-seven of the girls escaped, while 219 were taken away, with the government of Goodluck Jonathan tardy in mounting a rescue operation.
The Buhari administration since it came into office on May 29, 2015, has been working towards freeing all the girls still in captivity.
At the third anniversary of the abduction of the girls, President Buhari further made the commitment in a special statement:
“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.
“I wish to reassure the parents of the Chibok girls, all well-meaning Nigerians, organisations and the international community that as a government, we are unrelenting on the issue of the safe return of our children.
“I trust God that, soon, our collective efforts will be rewarded with the safe return of our schoolgirls to their families, friends and their communities.”
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