Ajadi Daniel
21 of the abducted chibok girls were released by the Boko Haram group on Thursday after intense negotiation supervised by the Swiss government and the red cross. The girls have been in captivity for more than 900 days, they were kidnapped in April 2014.
There had been allegations that the girls were swapped for top Boko Haram commanders in the custody of the Nigerian army, in fact sources in the military have substantiated this thesis, but the Nigerian government has vehemently denied that it was a swap deal or that ransom was involved. But the veracity of that claim is questionable.
There are unsubstantiated reports that eighteen of the girls have babies. But the vice president has dispelled that saying that only one of the girls have baby. The girls look tired and emaciated but maintained very calm composure.
Also some parents of the Chibok girls are dead. The federal government has however released the names of the 21 released chibok girl which are as follows:
Mary Usman Bulama
Jummai John
Blessing Abana
Lugwa Sanda
Comfort Habila
Maryam Baheer
Comfort Amos
Glory Mainta
Saratu Emannuel
Deborah Ja’afaru
Rahab Ibrahim
Helen Musa
Maryamu Lawan
Rebecca Ibrahim
Asabe Goni
Deborah Andrawus
Agnes Gapani
Saratu Markus
Glory Dama
Pindah Nuhu
Rebecca Mallam.
The Federal Government has also lined up a team of doctors, psychologists, social workers to effectively cater for the girls and they have since been handed over to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
There had been various comments the world over as regards the release of the girls, most of the comments are full of praises for the current administration while some questioned the logic behind negotiating with terrorists. The federal government has however reinstated its commitment to secure the release of the remaining girls and stated that efforts are on going as negotiations continue to make that possible.
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