Halima Ali Maiyanga, one of more than 100 women still missing, called her father to say that she and others managed to escape Boko Haram militants on Thursday.
“She asked me. Is this my father? This is my father, and she started to cry. [so] a lot and I couldn’t hear it very well. I was also crying. I never expected to hear from her again, “said Ali Maiyanga.
“The whole family is very happy. Our house is full of people who are rejoicing with us.”
Ali Maiyanga said that she had no opportunity to speak properly with her daughter, because she was moved and the call was short. But he said she and others are safe and being looked after by the Nigerian army.
He added that she was calling from a security officer phone line.
CNN contacted the Nigerian army for official confirmation.
It is not yet clear how many of the remaining missing girls managed to escape.
In 2014, militants broke into a boarding school in the Nigerian village of Chibok and kidnapped 276 girls – an incident that gained widespread attention and spawned an international campaign that advocated their release with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Dozens of girls escaped almost immediately after the mass kidnapping. Another girl was found in May 2016, when she left a Nigerian forest asking for help, according to witnesses.
Since then, nothing has been heard about the 112 young women who remained in custody.
This is a story in development, more to follow …