Boko Haram returns Nigeria girls, warns not to put in school
DAPCHI, Nigeria — Boko Haram Islamic extremists brought back nearly all of the 110 girls they had kidnapped from a boarding school last month, dropping them off in the middle of the night Wednesday with a warning: “Don’t ever put your daughters in school again.”
Several of the girls interviewed by The Associated Press said they had been travelling for days before the convoy of vehicles arrived in the centre of the town of Dapchi around 2 a.m. Residents who had fled upon hearing that Boko Haram was headed their way watched from hiding as dozens of girls descended from the vehicles apparently unharmed.
“We were freed because we are Muslim girls and they didn’t want us to suffer. That is why they released us,” said Khadija Grema, one of the freed girls who said a Christian classmate remained captive.
The extraordinary development brought elation to most of the families, but more heartache for the relatives of the six girls still unaccounted for. The sister of one girl fainted Wednesday upon hearing that she was not among those freed.