According to family members and local officials, at least one of the more than 100 young women still missing after their abduction by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram in the Nigerian city of Chibok managed to escape her abductors almost seven years ago.
Halima Ali Maiyanga said in a call to her family on Thursday that she was one of hundreds of prisoners who could flee amid a Nigerian military offensive against Boko Haram fighters in the Sambisa forest in the northeast of the country.
The Chibok Association, which was formed after 276 girls were abducted from their high school in the city of Chibok in 2014, said several others also won their freedom during the military struggle. More than 100 of them were released in 2016 and 2017 following a ransom and the release of some Boko Haram fighters by the government.
Halima was in tears. “She told us she was in the army and needed clothes because she had nothing,” said her brother, Muhammad Maiyanga. “We never thought we would see her again.”
Me. Maiyanga, now 22, was 15 when she was abducted the night before her annual exams. Her older sister Maryam Ali Maiyanga managed to escape in 2017 with a baby boy born after her forced marriage to a jihadist fighter.
“People came to rejoice with us,” said the sister. “I can not wait to reunite with my sister.”
A man in Lagos drove past portraits of some of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram.
Photo:
pius utomi ekpei / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images
Neither Nigeria’s government nor the military has responded to calls for comment. One Nigerian security official said the army had determined that some of the escapees were from Chibok. Another said they had just confirmed that more than 100 women had been freed.
Defense officials said the new offensive showed the army was regaining the initiative after a year of struggling to contain the jihadists.
According to the US Foreign Relations Council, the period since July 2018 has been more deadly for Nigeria’s security service personnel than at any other time in the decade – long conflict.
High schools are still being targeted by Boko Haram. According to Nigerian security officials, 344 students were abducted from a boys’ residence in the state of Katsina in December, but were released after a ransom was paid.
Boko Haram’s kidnapping of the Chibok girls has fueled the worldwide #BringBackOurGirls campaign that has briefly turned them into the world’s most famous hostages. The hashtag led to an international rescue effort led by the US, which used drones and satellites over the Sambisa forest to hunt down the prisoners.
After the news about the escape of me. Maiyanga, awaits other families in Chibok expectantly and hopes for the news of daughters who have resigned some to never see again. But the community saw earlier that his hopes had diminished after allegations that the girls had been freed turned out to be false.
Rebecca Samuel, whose daughter Sarah was among the hostages, said she had a vivid dream Thursday night that her daughter would return alive.
“I told my husband about my dream this morning,” she said. “I have not stopped praying for the return of my daughter since she was abducted in 2014.”
After being abducted by Boko Haram, 21 Chibok schoolgirls were reunited with their parents in October 2016 during an emotional gathering in Abuja, Nigeria. Photo: AP (Originally published on October 16, 2016)
—Kabiru Anwar contributed to this article.
Write to Joe Parkinson at [email protected]
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