Two Chibok secondary school girls have escaped from their abductors’ den in Sambisa forest, Borno State, Nigeria, News About Nigeria has learnt.
Hauwa Mutah and Esther Markus escaped on Sunday during a military bombardment on the terrorists’ hideout.
According to a source, one of the girls is from Chibok, while the other is from Dzilang village.
With these two recent escapes, the number of Chibok schoolgirls still in captivity has reduced to 96.
The Chibok schoolgirls were abducted by the Boko Haram terrorist group on April 14, 2014.
The incident sparked global outrage and prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Since then, there have been various efforts by the Nigerian government and international organizations to rescue the girls.
In 2014, 57 girls escaped, while 107 were released in 2018.
In 2019, three girls were recovered, two in 2021, and nine were rescued in 2022, bringing the total number of girls out of captivity to 178.
Colonel Obinna Ezuipke, the head of the Intelligence Unit of the Joint Military Task Force, Operation Hadinkai, gave the update on the remaining Chibok girls in captivity last week.
He said there were 98 girls left in Boko Haram’s captivity.
The recent escape of Hauwa Mutah and Esther Markus is seen as a glimmer of hope for the remaining girls and their families.
It is a testament to the relentless efforts of the Nigerian military to rescue the girls and defeat the Boko Haram insurgency.
The Nigerian government has been criticized for not doing enough to rescue the girls and protect its citizens from Boko Haram’s attacks.
However, the recent successes of the military have shown that progress is being made in the fight against terrorism in the country.
