One abducted girl fromthe Nigerian town of Chibok has been freed and reunited with herparents seven years after Boko Haram militants kidnapped her andmore than 200 of her classmates, Borno state’s governor said onSaturday.
The raid on the school in the northeastern town one night inApril 2014 sparked an international outcry and a viral campaignon social media with the hashtag #bringbackourgirls.
Governor Babagana Zulum said the girl and someone she saidshe married during her captivity surrendered themselves to themilitary 10 days ago. Zulum said government officials had usedthe time since to identify her and contact her parents.
Some 270 girls were originally abducted by the Islamistgroup but 82 were freed in 2017 after mediation, adding to 24who were released or found. A few others have escaped or beenrescued, but about 113 of the girls are believed to be heldstill by the militant group.
Zulum said reuniting the girl with her relatives raisedhopes that others still in captivity will be found. He said thegirl will receive psychological and medical care as part of agovernment rehabilitation program.
Boko Haram first carried out mass school kidnappings inNigeria, as did its later offshoot Islamic State West AfricaProvince, but now the tactic has been adopted by criminal gangssnatching schoolchildren for ransom.
In the latest attack last month bandits kidnappedschoolchildren from a boarding school in the state of Kaduna,the 10th mass school kidnapping since December in northernNigeria, which has seen more than 1,000 students abducted.
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