More than 200 teenaged schoolgirls were abducted by the group on 14th April 2014 from Government Girls Secondary School at Chibok who were preparing for science exams.
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A social media campaign using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls reached to the White House, where first lady Michelle Obama promised her husband would do all in his power to help.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video saying his group was behind the abduction of the girls and threatened to sell them in the market as “slaves”.
A Chibok elder and relative of the girl, Mr Awami Nkeki, said Amina was found in the bush by hunters who took her to Damboa town from where she was taken to her mother’s village.
Amina, now 19, was reportedly recognised by a civilian fighter of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), a vigilante group set up to help fight Boko Haram, and briefly reunited with her mother.
But she was quoted as saying by Chibok community leader Tsambido Hoseana Abana that “six were already dead”, while Nkeki and other community leaders said she was found with a baby. One of the girls remarked, “We are all well”, and she encouraged the Nigerian government to meet Boko Haram’s demands, which were not stated. About 50 of the girls escaped but 219 were captured.
“The rest of the girls are alive and well, and are holed up in Sambisa Forest under Boko Haram fortification”, he said.
Mounting pressure to find the girls led to former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s electoral defeat.
Hope was briefly raised in April 2015 when the Nigerian military announced it had rescued 200 girls and 93 women from the Sambisa Forest.
It’s been a little more than two long years since the terrorists known as Boko Haram abducted hundreds of schoolgirls.
Nigeria’s military has reported freeing thousands this year as they have forced the extremists from towns and into strongholds in the sprawling Sambisa Forest. According to a report released in November, the Global Terrorism Index, Boko Haram was the world’s deadliest terrorist group in 2014, responsible for 6,644 deaths, an increase of 317% from the previous year.
The Nigerian army has made progress in the fight against Boko Haram in the past year, retaking most of the areas previously under Boko Haram control.
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UNICEF spokeswoman in West and Central Africa Helene Sandbu Ryeng said for Ali and others rescued, “being freed from Boko Haram and returning home is only the first step”.
