ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — An unknown number of Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped three years ago by Boko Haram extremists in northern Nigeria have been released, a government official said late Saturday. Family members said they were awaiting names and other information before celebrating.
Nearly 200 of the schoolgirls had remained captive after the first negotiated release of 21 girls in October. At the time, Nigeria’s government said another group of 83 girls would be released “very soon.”
“Huge numbers,” the personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmad, tweeted late Saturday, without giving details.
Many of the kidnapped girls were forced to marry the Islamic extremists and became pregnant. Human rights advocates believe others could be among the young girls who have been used to carry out suicide bombing attacks.
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