The Nigerian military on Wednesday said some of the female students abducted by suspected Boko Haram gunmen have been freed.
Over 100 final year students of the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, were kidnapped from their school on Monday night. Two security officials attached to the school were also killed during the attack. The girls were kidnapped days after they resumed school to prepare for the final examinations which was scheduled to start next week. All schools in Borno had been closed before then.
The girls, largely teenagers, were put in a lorry by the terrorists and how some of them escaped by holding on to branches of trees from the moving lorry, and others by jumping from the vehicle.
In a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Chris Olukolade on Wednesday, the military said that some of the girls were freed on Wednesday after troops pursued the terrorists into their den.
Mr. Olukolade, a Major General, confirmed that the number of girls kidnapped was 129. He did not state how many of the girls were freed by the military. It is also not clear if the freed girls are same as those who had escaped from their abductors.
Several Nigerians have condemned the kidnap and asked the federal government to urgently ensure their prompt release.
Arms recovered in Wukari
The spokesperson also said that troops deployed to restore law and order in Wukari, Taraba State, have apprehended 14 armed men who were involved in the violence in the area from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.
The police had earlier confirmed that seven people died from the violence, although residents said the casualty was more.
Mr. Olukolade said the fighting led to the burning of no fewer than 25 houses and displacement of over 200 persons.
The troops, Mr. Olukolade said, also captured a building where arms were being fabricated.
He said that four locally fabricated machine guns, one sub machine gun, four single barrel guns and 21 live cartridges were recovered in the process.
He, however, noted that normalcy has since been restored as troops maintain patrol of the area.
He said that security forces have also been directed to continue with the offensive on all terrorist enclaves around Nigeria.
He said that security forces have also been directed to continue with the offensive on all terrorist enclaves around Nigeria.