By Aiyeku Timothy
About seven years after Boko Haram militants abducted them in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, more of the missing schoolgirls are reported to have escaped and are returning home.
In his claim, Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian human rights lawyer who practices in the United States and has previously worked with some of the freed girls and their families, said a parent told him that his daughter and others have escaped their captors.
“Mr. Ali Maiyanga’s two daughters were part of the few Muslim schoolgirls taken with the majority Christian Chibok girls. Information currently available to us indicates that there are other escapees with the army whom parents are anxiously waiting to identify,” Ogebe said in a statement late Thursday.
“We spoke and confirmed from Mr. Ali Maiyanga moments ago that he in fact spoke with his daughter today, who informed him that she along with others were rescued. Her sister who escaped four years ago and is on school break was overjoyed at the news of her sibling’s escape.”
This news was confirmed by the secretary of the Chibok Parents Association whose daughter was among those abducted, Lawal Zannah.
“We heard that some of our girls have escaped from the forest, but we are yet to get the detail about their number,” Zannah told reporters Thursday evening.
This has brought hope as more parents are anxiously waiting for their children. Another parent, Malam Madu Mutta, confirmed the entire Chibok community is anxiously awaiting as well.
“We were told they are currently with the security operatives. We are yet to know the numbers, but we are happy that some of them escaped,” Mutta told reporters Friday.
“So many other parents and relatives are coming from Chibok with hopes of meeting their daughters. Again, hope is risen that we can have some of them back again.”
However, there has been no official statement from the Federal Government on the reported escape of the girls.
It would be recalled that in April 2014, members of the jihadist group Boko Haram ambushed an all-girls boarding school in Chibok in the middle of the night and kidnapped 276 students before vanishing into the forest.
Some of the girls managed to escape on their own, while others were later rescued or freed following negotiations. But the fate of many has remained unknown.
With this development, more parents will come alive with the hope of seeing their children again.
