200 Girls & 93 Women Rescued From Boko Haram By Nigerian Military
Yesterday, at around noon, the Nigerian military made an announcement on Twitter that they had secured the release of 200 girls and 93 women from the Boko Haram. The rescue mission was conducted at the Sambisa Forest in Borno State.
FLASH: Troops this afternoon rescued 200 girls & 93 women from #Sambisa Forest. We cannot confirm if the #ChibokGirls are in this group /1
— DEFENCE HQ NIGERIA (@DefenceInfoNG) April 28, 2015
They could not confirm if the over 200 Chibok girls captured last April were among the group of the girls rescued. But it is believed the army spokesman Col. Sani Usman later came forth to confirm that the girls captured are different from the Chibok girls. The military is said to have captured and destroyed three camps the Islamist militia were operating from, and that the rescued are being screened and interviewed.
Troops captured and destroyed 3 terrorists camps including the notorious Tokumbere camp in the #Sambisa Forest Operation /2
— DEFENCE HQ NIGERIA (@DefenceInfoNG) April 28, 2015
Amnesty International reported that since 2014, the militia has kidnapped at least 2,000 girls and women, many of whom are forced to train to fight on their side and others are turned into sex slaves.
However, the New York Times reports of a supposed cover up by the Nigerian Government each time the international community puts pressure for it to act swiftly in containing the Boko Haram menace. It reports:
“The mass abduction ignited international alarm at Boko Haram’s unchecked rampages across northern Nigeria. In response, the government has repeatedly declared in the past year that it had reached a cease-fire with Boko Haram, that the girls would soon be rescued, that they had been located and even, on a previous occasion, that they had been rescued. The claims quickly proved to be untrue.”
Hussaini Monguno, a Security Adviser to the Governor of Borno State, as quoted by the New York Times, said: “It may be women that B.H. has kidnapped from village to village. How could they rescue over 200 women without getting Shekau or the top B.H. commander? How many were killed? Without clear explanation, people will always believe they just want to cover up.”
You can read more on this at New York Times by following this link >>.