MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria (AP) — Eighty-two Chibok schoolgirls seized three years ago by
Boko Haram have been freed in exchange for detained suspects with the
extremist group, Nigeria's government announced early Sunday, in the
largest release negotiated yet in the battle to save nearly 300 girls
whose mass abduction exposed the mounting threat posed by the Islamic
State-linked fighters.
The
statement from the office of President Muhammadu Buhari was the first
confirmation that his government had made a swap for the girls. After an
initial release of 21 Chibok girls in October, the government denied
making an exchange or paying ransom.
The
April 2014 abduction by Boko Haram brought the extremist group's
rampage in northern Nigeria to world attention and, for families of the
schoolgirls, began years marked with heartbreak.
Some
relatives did not live long enough to see their daughters released.
Many of the captive girls, most of them Christians, were forced to marry
their captors and give birth to children in remote forest hideouts
without ever knowing if they would see their parents again. It is feared
that other girls were strapped with explosives and sent on missions as
suicide bombers.
As
word of the latest release emerged, long-suffering family members said
they were eagerly awaiting a list of names and "our hopes and
expectations are high."
Before Saturday's release, 195 of the girls had remained captive. Now 113 of the girls remain unaccounted for.
The freed girls were expected to meet with Buhari on Sunday in the capital, Abuja.
A
Nigerian military official with direct knowledge of the rescue
operation said the freed girls were found near the town of Banki in
Borno state near Cameroon.
"The
location of the girls kept changing since yesterday when the operation
to rescue them commenced," said the official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to make the announcement.
Boko
Haram remains active in that area. On Friday, the United States and
Britain issued warnings that the extremist group was actively planning
to kidnap foreigners in an area of Borno state "along the Kumshe-Banki
axis."
The 276 schoolgirls kidnapped from Chibok in 2014 are among thousands of people abducted by Boko Haram over the years.
The
mass abduction shocked the world, sparking a global #Bringbackourgirls
campaign supported by former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and other
celebrities. It has put tremendous pressure on Nigeria's government to
counter the extremist group, which has roamed large parts of the north
and into neighboring countries.
"This
is a very, very exciting news for us that we have over 80 of our girls
coming back again," Bukky Shonibare with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign
told Sky TV. "Their life in captivity has been one that depicts
suffering, it depicts the fact that they have been starved, abused, and
as we have seen before some of those girls have come back with children,
and some of them have also come back with news of how they have been
sexually abused."
The
latest negotiations were again mediated by the Swiss government and the
International Committee of the Red Cross, Nigeria's government said.
At
the initial release of girls in October, the government said the
release of another 83 would be coming soon. But at the three-year
anniversary of the kidnapping in April, the government said negotiations
had "gone quite far" but faced challenges.
Buhari
late last year announced Boko Haram had been "crushed," but the group
continues to carry out attacks in northern Nigeria and neighboring
countries. Its insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and driven
2.6 million from their homes, with millions facing starvation.
___
Larson
reported from Dakar. Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun in Abuja,
Nigeria, and Hilary Uguru in Warri, Nigeria, contributed.
