Of the 200 school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, they released 82 girls in exchange of prisoners.
The presidency announced that months of talks with the jihadists had “yielded results”, just over six months after 21 of their classmates were freed with the help of international mediators.
“Today 82 more Chibok girls were released,” it said yesterday.
“After lengthy negotiations, our security agencies have taken back these girls, in exchange for some Boko Haram suspects held by the authorities.”
No details were given about how many suspects were released or their identities.
The girls were to be taken to Abuja today to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, the presidency said, thanking security agencies, the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
“The president has repeatedly expressed his total commitment towards ensuring the safe return of the Chibok girls and all other Boko Haram captives,” it added.
A military and a civilian militia source in Banki, near the border with Cameroon, said “at least 80” girls were brought to the town late afternoon yesterday and taken to military barracks.
Shehu Sani, a Nigerian senator who has been involved in previous negotiations with Boko Haram, told.
Although the Chibok girls are the most high-profile case, Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of adults and children, many of whose cases have been neglected.
The militants have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million during their insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.
Although the Army has retaken much of the territory initially lost to Boko Haram, large parts of the northeast, particularly in Borno State, remain under threat from the militants.
Suicide bombings and gun attacks have increased in the region since the end of the rainy season in late 2016.
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