At least one of the more than 100 women still missing after their kidnapping by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram in the Nigerian city of Chibok nearly seven years ago managed to escape from her kidnappers this week, according to family and local officials.
Halima Ali Maiyanga told her family in a phone call on Thursday that she was one of hundreds of prisoners who managed to escape amid a Nigerian military offensive against Boko Haram fighters in the Sambisa Forest, in the northeast of the country.
The Chibok Association, formed after 276 girls were kidnapped from their school in the city of Chibok in 2014, said several others also won freedom during the army’s onslaught. More than 100 of them were released in 2016 and 2017 after the payment of a ransom and the release of some Boko Haram fighters by the government.
“Halima was crying. She told us that she worked for the military and needed some clothes because she had nothing, ”said her brother Muhammad Maiyanga. “We never thought we would see her again.”
Ms. Maiyanga, now 22, was 15 when she was kidnapped the night before the year-end exams. His older sister, Maryam Ali Maiyanga, managed to escape in 2017 along with a newborn son who was born after his forced marriage to a jihadist warrior.
“People have come to rejoice with us,” said the sister. “I can’t wait to be reunited with my sister again.”
A man in Lagos went through portraits of some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram.
Photograph:
pius utomi ekpei / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images
Neither the government of Nigeria nor the military responded to requests for comment. A Nigerian security officer said the army determined that some fugitives were from Chibok. Another said he confirmed only that more than 100 women were released.
Defense officials said the new offensive showed that the military was recovering the initiative after a year of fighting to contain the jihadists, who have become increasingly comprehensive and bold.
According to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, the period since July 2018 has been more deadly for security personnel in Nigeria than any other period of the decade-long conflict.
Secondary schools are still being targeted by Boko Haram. In December, 344 students were kidnapped from a boarding school for boys in Katsina state, but were released after paying a ransom, according to Nigerian security officials.
The abduction of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram started the global campaign #BringBackOurGirls, which soon turned them into the most famous hostages in the world. The hashtag spawned an international rescue effort led by the United States, which deployed drones and satellites in the Sambisa Forest to hunt captives.
After news of Ms. Maiyanga’s escape, other families in Chibok were anxiously waiting, waiting for news from daughters that some resigned themselves to never seeing again. But the community has seen their hopes dashed before, after the allegations that the girls were released turned out to be false.
Rebecca Samuel, whose daughter Sarah was among the hostages, said she had a vivid dream on Thursday night when her daughter returned alive and well.
“I told my husband this morning about my dream,” she said. “I haven’t stopped praying for my daughter’s return since she was kidnapped in 2014.”
After being kidnapped by Boko Haram, 21 Chibok students met with their parents in October 2016 at an exciting meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. Photo: AP (originally published on October 16, 2016)
—Kabiru Anwar contributed to this article.
Write to Joe Parkinson at [email protected]
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