A
second Chibok schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram more than two years ago has
been found, the Nigerian army said on Thursday.
Army
spokesman Colonel Sani Usman "has confirmed the rescue of another Chibok
girl this evening", a statement said, without giving further details.
The
first of the 219 abducted students, Amina Ali, was found on Tuesday by troops
and civilian vigilantes near Boko Haram's stronghold in the Sambisa Forest area
of Borno state, northeast Nigeria.
The
19-year-old and her mother met President Muhammadu Buhari at his official
residence in Abuja earlier Thursday, where the head of state said the
government was “doing all it can to rescue the remaining Chibok girls”.
“Amina’s
rescue gives us new hope, and offers a unique opportunity for vital
information,” he said in a statement.
Amina
was quoted as saying by a campaign group pushing for the girls' release that
all the students were still being held in the former game reserve, where the
Islamists have had camps, but that six had died.
Nigeria’s
military has been mounting an offensive in the sprawling, semi-desert scrubland
since late April to flush out rebel fighters.
Boko
Haram is thought to have kidnapped thousands of women and young girls since the
start of its insurgency to create a hardline Islamic state.
Former
hostages have reported seeing some of the Chibok girls in the forest.
The
Chibok kidnapping saw 276 seized from their school in the remote town on April
14, 2014. Fifty-seven escaped soon in the immediate aftermath.
Source:
AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment