82 of the Chibok school girls seized three years ago have just been released. DW wrote that More than a half of the some 270 schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Chibok three years ago are now at liberty.
The release of the 82 Chibok girls on Saturday was a joyous occasion and a great success for the government of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. According to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, there are now just 113 Chibok girls who are still missing.
Halima Ali Maiyanga, one of more than 100 young women still missing, called her father to say she and others had managed to flee Boko Haram militants Thursday. Her father, Ali Maiyanga was quoted saying:
“She asked me. Is this my daddy? Is this my daddy, and she started crying. The crying was [so] much and I couldn’t hear her very well. I was crying too. I never expected to hear from her again,” Ali Maiyanga told CNN.
In securing the release of the Chibok girls, Buhari did not want to rely on military might. Instead, he sought assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government. Freedom for the girls was evidently so important to him that he was even prepared to negotiate with terrorists to achieve it.
He also let Boko Haram claim a victory of their own at the negotiations for the release of the Chibok girls. The group secured the release of several of their fighters in exchange for the girls.
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Th return of the girl has caused a lot of happiness in the family who are rejoicing at the girls return even though 7 years later.
The girls who escaped added that the other girl are safe and that they are being looked after by the Nigerian Army. She was calling from a phone line belonging to a security official.
CNN has reached out to the Nigerian army for official confirmation.It is not yet clear how many of the remaining missing girls have managed to escape.
Source: Afronews, CNN, DW.de