More Chibok Schoolgirls Escape After 7 Years In Boko Haram Captivity

About seven years after Boko Haram militants abducted them from their dormitory beds in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, more of the schoolgirls are said to have escaped from their abductors.

A Nigerian human rights lawyer in the United States, Emmanuel Ogebe, who had worked with some of the schoolgirls earlier freed by the terrorists, told ABC News that a parent informed him that more of the girls, including his daughter, had just escaped from the terrorists’ den.

“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 told ABC News 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,” he said.

Confirming the news, the secretary of the Chibok Parents Association, Lawal Zannah, whose daughter was among those abducted, said he learnt that some of the abductees had escaped.

“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 on Thursday.

Another parent, Malam Madu Mutta, told the newspaper that the Chibok community was anxiously awaiting the girls’ arrival.

“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.”

Government authorities have not yet release a statement to confirm the development.