Women and children numbering about six and nine respectively, have escaped from Boko Haram captivity in Yobe State axis of Sambisa Forest.
The women, one of them expectant, were kidnapped on October 3, 2020 and May 5, 2021 in Chibok and Hong local councils of Borno and Adamawa states, according to The Guardian.
Handing over the escapees to Governor Babagana Zulum, yesterday, in Maiduguri, the Women Affairs Commissioner, Zuwaira Gambo, disclosed that four women between the ages of 20 and 25 had two children each, one woman had a child, while one was pregnant.
Following the report, the women and their children reportedly trekked for six hours before security operatives on the south fringe of the forest rescued them.
Gambo disclosed: “The ones abducted at Takulashu village of Chibok are Maryam Ishaya with a child, Rachael Simon with two children, while Esther Ayuba and Alheri Ezekiel each have two children.”
The Women Affairs Commissioner told the governor that the terrorists in Cofure village of Hong in Adamawa abducted Victoria Andrew and Victoria James, with two children each.
Boko Haram abducted 276 girls at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, on April 14, 2014. Since then, about 50 per cent of them had regained freedom, while over 100 are still in captivity, the report disclosed.
While receiving the women and children at the Musa Usman Secretariat, Maiduguri, the governor said the state government was doing everything possible to speed up the reintegration of all victims of Boko Haram into the society.
He expressed pleasure receiving the women and children after their escape from captivity, and also thanked God for protecting and rescuing them from the hands of terrorists.
The report says Zulum assured them that they would be handed over to their respective families, adding that security operatives would profile the over 8,000 surrendered Boko Haram terrorists, comprising the innocent ones who were conscripted, against their will, into the terror group.
