ABUJA, NIGERIA (MAY 7, 2017) (REUTERS) – A group of girls released by Boko Haram jihadists after kidnapping them in 2014 in the north Nigerian town of Chibok arrived on Sunday (May 7) in the capital Abuja, a Reuters witness said.
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BORNO, NIGERIA (REUTERS) – Boko Haram militants released 82 schoolgirls out of a group of more than 200 who they kidnapped from the northern town of Chibok in April 2014, officials said on Saturday (May 6), the largest group yet to be freed after years of tense negotiations.
The girls were released through negotiations with the government, one official said, asking not to be named.
The girls were among about 220 students abducted from a secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014, sparking a global campaign dubbed #bringbackourgirls supported by then U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and a list of celebrities.
About 21 Chibok schoolgirls were released in October last year in a deal brokered by Switzerland and the International Red Cross, while a handful of others have escaped or been rescued. But about 195 were still missing.
The girls were taken from a school in Chibok in the remote northeastern Borno state where Boko Haram has waged an insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state that has killed thousands and displaced more than 2 million people.
Cameroonian journalist Ahmed Abba was sentenced to 10 years in jail, accused of collaborating with Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamist militants. Lawyers for Abba, who has been jailed since 2015 say he is innocent and claim he has been tortured by security agents. Amnesty International has called for his immediate release. Continue reading
Nigerian soldiers have found a girl who was one of more than 200 pupils kidnapped by Islamist militant group Boko Haram from their school in the town of Chibok in April 2014.
Human Rights Watch has released a report accusing Nigeria’s police and troops of raping women and girls displaced by conflict in the northeast. An Islamist campaign by Boko Haram has driven more than two million people from their homes and killed some 15,000 in the region. Abuses are also said to have been carried out by camp leaders and local militias meant to help the military fight the insurgents.
The author of a book on the Chibok Girls speaks of the parents’ distress two years after losing their children to Boko Haram, unsure if they are alive or how they are and after a viewing new video of the girls, said to be filmed last December.
#BringBackOurGirls activists blame the government and international community for failing to rescue children abducted by Boko Haram two years ago and call for more action.
2015 saw Africa’s musicians use their songs to spread awareness about Boko Haram, promote peace and reconciliation and challenge stereotypes. It was a year where the continent’s diversity and eclectic musical traditions were on display.
(REUTERS) – Chanting protesters in Nigeria march to the home of President Muhammadu Buhari.
They’re demanding answers from the government on what is being done to rescue some 200 girls kidnapped from a school in the northeastern town of Chibok last year.
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Internally displaced people in Nigeria’s northeast have started returning home since the army began clearing large areas from Boko Haram, but thousands could face severe food shortages.
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