(RNN) – One of the more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 has been found.
Advertisement
He however didn’t state when the girl and other hostages were freed.
She said some of the other girls are still being held there, although some have died in captivity.
“It is gratifying to note that no casualty was recorded by our troops through the conduct of this operation”, he added.
It’s not known how many thousands of girls, boys and young women have been kidnapped by Boko Haram in a almost 7-year-old insurgency that has killed some 20,000 people and spread across Nigeria’s borders. In the past year, the Nigerian army has reported rescuing thousands of captives and demolishing Boko Haram hideouts.
The young woman was rescued by a vigilante group, who handed her over to the military, Allen Manasseh, a spokesman for the Chibok community, told dpa on Wednesday. Nevertheless Amina’s discovery has brought hope to the remaining parents: “This means they are still alive”, said Yakubu Nkeke, from a local parents’ group.
Amina – who has had an emotional reunion with her mother – is expected to arrive in the country’s capital Abuja later on Thursday to meet President Buhari.
Hayatu, one of the Boko Haram commanders also known as “Amir” reportedly escaped with his wife from the Sambisa forest and surrendered to Civilian Joint Task Force members in Balle, a village in Damboa.
He has been arrested and taken to the regional capital Maiduguri, along with Amina and her baby, for medical attention, the military said.
Ali is one of 276 schoolgirls the Boko Haram kidnapped in Chibok two years ago.
The Chibok schoolgirls, many of whom are Christian, had previously not been seen since May 2014, when Boko Haram released a video of about 130 of them gathered together reciting the Koran.
A social media campaign using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls reached the White House, where first lady Michelle Obama promised that her husband would do all in his power to help. “They were just about to sit exams”, she says.
Advertisement
West African neighbors Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon formed a coalition to fight Boko Haram in May 2014 and launched the first offensive in late January 2015.
