Kidnapped Chibok girl has been set free say Bring Back Our Girls campaigners

One of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram is being treated in hospital after being set free, according to #BringBackOurGirls campaigners.

The girl – named as Susan or Susanna – was picked up by villagers in Borno state after walking for two days in the bush. She was said to have been thrown out of a moving vehicle by her captors.

Some campaigners and officials say the girl is one of the missing Chibok students. But other community leaders say she is too traumatised to properly identify herself.

Hadiza Usman of the #BringBackOurGirls group told THISDAY that the girl was incoherent when she was handed over to the police at Mubi in nieghbouring Adamawa state.

She added: “She has been moved from the Mubi police station to the Yola Police Command, following which she would be taken to the hospital this morning.”

Ms Usman said the authorities hoped her condition could be stabilised so that she might give some insight as to where other Chibok students are being held by Boko Haram.

Former Nigerian education minister and #BringBackOurGirls campaigner Obiageli Ezekwesili tweeted a series of messages about the girl. She wrote: “After the emotional upheaval of yesterday's dashed hope, today came with the FACTUAL RETURN of ONE of OUR 219 #ChibokGirls. She's in trauma.” She also sent this tweet below:

The Nigerian Daily Post quoted Hosea Tsambido, chairman of the Chibok community in Abuja, as saying: “One of the girls was ferried in a car and thrown into the bush about two days ago and she wandered into the village of Kwarihi, near Mubi. She gave her name as Susanna Ishaya but right now we are not sure if it is her real name until she is really treated.

“The people that saw her said she is both mentally and phsycally sick and has been taken to the hospital. We believe that she was probably abandoned by Boko Haram because of her health.”

THISDAY said the girl had fresh and old scars on her body where she may have been beaten by her kidnappers.

Chibok community leader Pogu Bitrus said her name is not listed among the missing girls but that she may be too traumatised to identify herself.

More than 200 girls from Chibok are still missing five months after they were abducted from their school. Yesterday Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, told a meeting at the UN that many parents are so filled with despair that they want to hold funerals for their lost daughters.

He added: “We must give these parents hope. It's not just Bring Back Our Girls. We must bring back our concern for our girls. We must bring back the international campaign for our girls.”


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