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Missing Chibok schoolgirl found – the first since abductions two years ago

A Boko Haram video showing some of the abducted Chibok girls

 

One of the Nigerian girls kidnapped from her school in Chibok by Boko Haram more than two years has been found by a vigilante group, according to reports.

Amina Ali Nkeki was rescued in the Sambisa Forest near the border with Cameroon, Lawan Zannah – secretary of the missing Chibok girls’ parents group – told the Reuters news agency.

She is the first of the 219 missing students to be found after being taken from the school by gunmen in April 2014.

The news was also confirmed by a leader of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Tsambido Hosea Abana – a Chibok community leader in Abuja – tweeted that Amina was found yesterday.

The #BringBackOurGirls group also released a statement which said: “She says all of the others are still in the Sambisa Forest area. That they are heavily guarded,.”

The Nigerian army said soldiers working with a civilian vigilante group rescued the girl and her four-month old baby near Damboa.

Army spokesman Sani Usman said they also detained a “suspected Boko Haram terrorist” who claimed to be her husband.

Yakubu Nkeki, head of the Abducted Chibok Girls Parents’ group, said Amina told him she was 17 when she was taken. He added: “She’s the daughter of my neighbour… they brought her to my house.”

Ayuba Alamson Chibok, a community leader in the town, told the Agence France-Presse news agency: “She met her parents, who recognised their daughter before she was taken to the military base in Damboa.

“Her father’s name is Ali and the girl’s name is Amina. I know the family very well because I have worked with them, being a spokesman for the families of the Chibok girls.”

The community leaders said Amina appeared to have given birth while in captivity.

A #BringBackOurGirls protest in Aubja, Nigeria

Borno state’s governor said the girl was being taken to the state capital Maiduguri. Kashim Shettima said: “I haven’t got any details… I learned the girl is on her way now.”

The Sambisa Forest is a Boko Haram stronghold which has been raided repeatedly by the Nigerian army during their searches for terrorist camps and the Chibok girls..

A total of 276 girls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok in a night raid on their domitories – but many escaped from the kidnappers’ trucks. Boko Haram released a video of a large group of the girls in May 2014.

The abduction sparked the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

Boko Haram’s insurgency has seen more than 900 schools attacked and 600 teachers killed, forcing hundreds of thousands of children out of education.

Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, has campaigned for the girls’ release and for safe schools in Nigeria.

He said: “We still await official confirmation about the safety of one of the girls abducted from her school in Chibok – but no one must give up hope and we should now urgently step up global support for a Nigerian rescue of all missing girls.”