293 Girls & Women Rescued From Sambisa Forest Undergo Pregnancy & HIV Tests

The military authorities have taken the 293 women and girls rescued by the Special Forces during a raid on the dreaded Sambisa Forest to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State to undergo a series of tests, including pregnancy and HIV tests.

The officer who spoke to Punch on Wednesday also said that seven of the girls had gunshot injuries which were being treated by the medical officials of the UMTH.

Findings indicated that out of the 293 ladies, 200 were aged between 13 and 18, the age brackets of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14, 2014.

When Punch contacted the Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris. Olukolade, to confirm the officer’s information on the rescued females, he said, “We will talk about it when we are through; we are busy moving them off the line of duty for a thorough screening. The military would do everything to take care of them and make them feel not traumatised.”

Our source explained that the military would on Thursday (today) commence a holistic investigation on the identities of the girls and women after the tests and treatment.

Another officer told Punch that the DHQ  was being careful with saying who the women and girls were to avoid mistakes.

He said, “This is a sensitive matter that has to be handled with   serious caution. You cannot say before the commencement of the investigation that they are the Chibok girls or not. Another thing is that you cannot start asking them if they are from Chibok because of the harrowing experiences or trauma they   have gone through.

Clearly, it would be too early for anybody to say that Chibok girls are among them or not; they are under custody; they went through trauma and we want to them to have some relief. Those with medical requirements are being treated. But the military is very careful.   There is the need to ascertain their true identities. There would be individual interrogation of each of those rescued, to ascertain their link with the sect.”

However, the Borno State Government said on Wednesday that most of the ladies were from Bumsiri, a village in Damboa Local Government Area of the state.

Source: Punch