First schoolgirl out of 219 taken by Boko Haram returned home TWO YEARS after abduction
Student taken by the Islamic extremists aged just 17 found after 'giving birth to militant's child in captivity'
THE FIRST schoolgirl out of the 219 abducted by Boko Haram over two years ago in Chibok, Nigeria has been found, raising hopes the other students will be released.
Both the Nigerian military and activists reported that schoolgirl Amina Ali was found on Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest district of Borno by civilian vigilantes assisting the military.
The student was swiftly returned to her home town Mbalala, near Chibok.
Speaking on her miraculous return, community leader Ayuba Alamson Chibok told Agence France Presse: “She met her parents, who recognised their daughter before she was taken to the military base in Damboa.
“Her father's name is Ali and the girl's name is Amina. I know the family very well because I have worked with them, being a spokesman for the families of the Chibok girls.”
Yakubu Nkeki, head of the Abducted Chibok Girls Parents' group, confirmed Amina’s name, adding she was aged just 17 when she was abducted.
He said: “She's the daughter of my neighbour... They brought her to my house.”
Tsambido Hosea Abana, a Chibok community leader in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, from the BringBackOurGirls pressure group, also confirmed the news.
All three said the teenager appeared to have given birth while in captivity.
She is reported to have told her family there were other kidnapped girls in the forest, but six “were already dead”.
The Sambisa Forest has long been notorious for housing Boko Haram camps, with other abducted women saved from the former game reserve in the past year reporting sightings of some of the Chibok girls.
Army spokesman Sani Usman also confirmed the schoolgirl’s rescue, though he called her Falmata Mbalala, and said she was found by troops in Baale, near Damboa.
Speaking on the name discrepancy, Chibok youth leader Manaseh Allan said it is not uncommon for kids in the town to go by different names at home and at school.
Meanwhile, leader of Abuja’s BringBackOurGirls group and former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili, tweeted: “It is OFFICIAL. OUR #ChibokGirlAminaAli of Mbalala village is BACK!!!!!!!
“#218ShallBeBack because #HopeEndures... Thanks #CivilianJTF and @HQNigerianArmy.”
In the wake of the girls’ 2014 abduction, the group has performed daily vigils in the capital, calling for the release of the schoolgirls and hundreds of other victims.
Boko Haram took 276 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on April 14, 2014.
Just 57 of the girls escaped in the aftermath of the raid, which brought global attention to the insurgency.
The Islamic extremist group has killed approximately 20,000 and left more than 2.6million without homes since 2009.
There have been claims Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said he would release the hostages if the Islamist fighters currently in Nigerian custody were released.
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