Tears Flow As Released 21 Chibok Girls Meet VP Yemi Osinbajo

On Thursday, there were strong indications that the Federal Government freed some top Boko Haram commanders for the 21 Chibok girls, who were released by the insurgents at Banki, a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon.

The released girls (read here) were among the over 200 schoolgirls, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.

Most of the girls wept profusely when Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo met them on Thursday at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services after the girls’ arrival in the Federal Capital Territory.

The 21 girls were released after 913 days in captivity.

A security source said five Boko Haram commanders were released in exchange for the 21 Chibok girls.

The source stated,

“Five top commanders of the Boko Haram were traded for the released Chibok girls.

Those released are not among those earlier released by the military in the North-East on October 1, 2016. These ones are confirmed Boko Haram commanders, who have been in the custody of the DSS.”

According to PUNCH on Thursday, 21 girls were discovered by troops of the 21 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, which supervises the military units in Banki, Borno State, while they were filing out of the forest.

“I think it was a planned operation which involved the DSS. The released Boko Haram commanders were not in the custody of the military,” the source added.

The source explained that the insurgents released the girls and left them to wander into an area where they could be sighted by people and security personnel in the area.

“The girls were released in the forest at Banki. Obviously, the abductors took them close to where they could be sighted and gave them direction and left them,” he stated.

It was learnt that the Nigerian Air Force Mi 17 Hercules helicopters were deployed in the area to airlift them out of the operational area to freedom.

The helicopter “has capacity to airlift 15 people without difficulty.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government denied reports that it released some top terrorists to secure the release of the 21 Chibok schoolgirls.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, issued the disclaimer while responding to reporters’ questions during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

He said the Federal Government remained prepared to do everything within its powers to get the remaining girls out of captivity, stressing that “it is not true that there was a swap.”

“Whatever it takes to get the Boko Haram situation under control, we will do it. Dialogues, military operation, anything; there are still small girls under captivity. Mr. President wants to speak to the leadership (of the sect) who has credibility,” the minister said.

Photo credit: Punch