Eighty-three Chibok schoolgirls seized three years ago by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria have been released into military custody, authorities said late yesterday, a dramatic development in the mass abduction that brought the extremist group's rampage to world attention.
"We are exceedingly delighted by this good news that has been long awaited following last October when upon the release of our 21 #ChibokGirls, our federal government promised that; another 83 was being negotiated to be released very soon. Some of them came here with them".
Boko Haram militants in Nigeria released dozens of abducted Chibok schoolgirls this week.
"Some girls refused to return".
Check out a few tweets about the new release below. Buhari has left Nigeria for health checkups in London, less than two months after an extended break in the United Kingdom for medical treatment. Buhari was in Britain earlier this year for more than seven weeks for medical care.
What illness he has remains undisclosed but concerns about his condition grew in recent weeks after he missed several cabinet meetings.
Yesufu said the freed girls require rehabilitation after three years in captivity.
He congratulated the girls and their parents, saying he could not express how happy he felt. He emphasized that he considered all 82 of the girls to be his daughters "because a lot of them worship in my church".
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It has a maximum capacity of 126 people - 21 boats with six people in each - and a minimum height of 0.9m. The ride at Drayton Manor Park photographed a few years ago when a reality TV series was being filmed.
Some relatives did not live to see their daughters released.
"The rehabilitation process has begun since the girls arrived in Abuja".
The Associated Press reports five Boko Haram commanders were freed in the swap.
In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a secondary school in the town of Chibok. Two more girls who successfully escaped have also since been discovered. Today, 82. By this feat, those that are still out there should be rest assured that Nigeria will not forget them, and this government will continue to do everything within its power to bring them back home", Saraki said, "Moving forward, the Security Forces must be commended.
Boko Haram has used kidnapping as a weapon of war, seizing thousands of women and children, including the Chibok girls, and forcibly recruiting young men and boys into their ranks. Human rights groups have criticized the decision to keep the girls in custody in Abuja, almost 900 kilometers (560 miles) from Chibok.
It was not clear if his daughters were among those freed.
The girls were among a group of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the armed group Boko Haram, which has waged an eight-year insurgency against the Nigerian government. The schoolgirls were freed in exchange for detained suspected extremists, said President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement. From there they will be flown to Abuja.
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