After more than six months in captivity, the more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls will soon be released, according to a Nigerian presidential spokesman Oct. 17.
A ceasefire agreement including the release of the girls was reached between the Nigerian army and the Islamist militant group Boko Haram after a month of negotiations, according to news reports.
Hassan Tukur, principal secretary to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, said the release should be finalized in late October after the next meeting with Boko Haram’s representatives in N’Djamena, Chad.
About 276 girls were taken in mid-April from a boarding school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. Several girls escaped (see “Christian schoolgirl recounts escape from Boko Haram militants” in the Oct. 9 issue of The Alabama Baptist) but more than 200 were still missing.
At a news conference in Nigeria, Boko Haram representatives assured the government “that the schoolgirls and all other people in their captivity are all alive and well.” Some reports said the militant group was holding the girls in a remote Sambisa forest along Nigeria and Cameroon’s border.
The girls’ captivity has sparked international outrage as well as support for their release.
The Bring Back Our Girls campaign leaders said in a tweet Oct. 17, “We are monitoring the news with huge expectations.”
Tukur said, “[Boko Haram] has shown willingness to abide by the agreement which it demonstrated with the release of the Chinese and Cameroonian hostages a few days ago.”
Possible prisoner swap
At press time it was unclear if the recent agreement includes a prisoner swap, something the Nigerian government and the International Committee of the Red Cross discussed with Boko Haram in September, according to news reports.
Once released the girls will be handed over to Chadian officials before being transferred to Nigerian officials and, eventually, “home.”
Boko Haram, founded 12 years ago, has intensified attacks in recent years — bombing schools, churches and mosques; kidnapping women and children; and assassinating politicians and religious leaders.
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