A total of 82 Chibok schoolgirls were set free yesterday by their Boko Haram captors following ‘rigorous’ negotiations, it was reliably gathered. The girls were handed over to the Nigerian authorities at Banki, a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The release came almost seven months after the terrorist group handed over 21 other abducted girls to the Nigerian government after rounds of secret negotiations.
Nigerian officials have maintained that they were in talks with the group to secure the freedom of the remaining girls who were taken captives in 2014. Boko Haram abducted 276 girls during a night raid on their school hostel in the town of Chibok.
Activities of the group have significantly been curtailed after a series of successful military operations that dislodged it from territories in the North-East and its stronghold in the Sambisa Forest in December last year. Security officials said the group had been further weakened by internal supremacy battle between two factional leaders, Abubakar Shekau and Mamman Nur.
Sources disclosed yesterday that the girls were handed to Nigerian officials by the Shekau-led faction, which operates around the Banki axis. The sources said arrangements were in progress to evacuate the girls to Maiduguri last night and Abuja, subsequently.
The girls, who were brought from undisclosed locations around the border town, would be ferried by military and humanitarian choppers,. Local and international mediators described the process of freeing the captives as ‘hectic and frustrating.’
A source within government said the same actors that worked for the release of 21 girls last year secured the freedom of the 82 girls. Local mediators, a top government official, the Swiss Government and the Red Cross secured the release of the 21 girls in December.
“The procedure is the same even this time around though it was really tough. It was as if the girls would not be released because of varying conditions, but we thank God they would be home in some hours,” he said.
Another source close to the negotiation said: “The handover of the girls (to us) was tasking. The Ahlul Sunnah (Boko Haram) that brought the girls was fully prepared for any eventuality, and the intervention of the Red Cross and the Swiss government made it a bit easier.
“The girls are not looking bad, but you can see stress and pain in their faces,” he said.
A military officer who confirmed the release of the girls said full details would be given by the Federal Government today.
“What I can assure you is that 82 girls have been freed today and they are on their way home. From what we gathered, beside all those that have been set free, many of the girls are still alive and healthy, future efforts would lead to their rescue,” he said.
A source close to the foreign mediators said they would not give up until all the living girls returned.
“The 82 we got today are a product of mutual trust and respect by both parties,” he said.
Asked if any ransom was paid or some Boko Haram elements were released in exchange of the girls, he said: “You need not to ask such questions. You are aware that no Boko Haram was released the other time, and therefore, why now?”
A former secretary of Chibok Local Government, Awomi Nkeki, described the latest release as “a glad tiding of immeasurable joy.”
He said they never expected something like it.
“We held a meeting of Chibok stakeholders today (yesterday) at the State Hotel in Maiduguri. There was no inkling that the girls had been found.
“We thank all those who played roles in this unprecedented feat,” he said.
Meanwhile spokesperson for the President, Mr. Femi Adeshina took to his twitter to announce that the 82 girls have arrived Abuja
