A spokesperson for the Nigerian military yesterday reported that troops had freed almost three hundred women and children from Boko Haram during action against the militant group in the north east of the country. However, none of the people freed were schoolgirls kidnapped from the town of Chibok last year.
The military said it had destroyed multiple camps belonging to Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest. Col. Sani Usman told The Associated Press that militants used some of their hostages as human shields, while some women were forced to fight against their rescuers. They were reportedly subdued and put through a screening and interview process.
The Tokumbere, Sassa and Tlafa terror camps were raided and destroyed, said a source close to the military. The Tokumbere camp is the most notorious, where the training of small children by Boko Haram is said to have occurred, the source said. Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the operation, but the military did not say how many.
CNN
Aftermath of a bomb blast last year.
Last year, hundreds of schoolgirls were captured by Boko Haram during a brutal assault on Chibok. Although a small number escaped, more than two hundred remain missing. The Islamic militant group has captured young men and women, subjecting them to rape, forced marriages and selling them into slavery. The group has also used hostages to carry out suicide bombings.
The story of the schoolgirls’ plight was slow to gain attention until it was repeatedly passed around online and celebrities became involved.
More than 2,000 women and children from Northeastern Nigeria have been kidnapped by Boko Haram in the past 17 months, but the plight of the schoolgirls, who were kidnapped in one raid and seemed to have been targeted because they were seeking education, garnered the world’s sympathy. The founder of the Bring Back our Girls movement, former World Bank Vice President for Africa and former Nigerian Education Minister Obiageli Ezekwesili was relentless in her campaign to make sure the Chibok girls were not forgotten, and brought in international celebrities from Madonna to U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousufzai to promote the cause.
Time
[Image: Michael Fleshman, Diariocritico de Venezuela ]
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