One of the Boko Haram terrorists who Monday night abducted over 100 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, in Nigeria’s troubled north-eastern state of Borno has been captured.

This was disclosed late yesterday in by the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade.

The Defence spokesman, as News Express reported late last night, also disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja, the country’s capital, that only eight of the abducted girls were still missing and that 107 had been rescued by a combined team of the military, local hunters and the Chibok vigilante group.

However, one of the freed schoolgirls gave the number of those abducted as 243 instead of the 129 declared by government. The girl, whose name was given as Hajara by the Nigerian Tribune gave a clearer picture of how they were rescued. She said that they escaped when the articulated vehicle conveying them got stuck in the bush while they were trying to cross over the muddy area in the bush between Chibok and Askira/Uba.

Hajara’s father, Malam Ali Iliya, told newsmen on phone: “My daughter said when the trailer got stuck, some of the girls began to jump out and run for their lives and she followed suit.

“They were scattered in the bush when the vigilantes and local hunters found them. Some of them were wounded, some were with fracture as a result of jumping from the vehicle, but we are happy our children are rescued. Now, we are praying for those who are still with the Boko Haram and our prayer is that every father would have his child back.”

Malam Iliya said that Hajara is sound and healthy but weak as a result of fear, adding: “We are lucky our children were not shot by the insurgents. They allowed those who could run to go, but those who could not run, either as a result of fear or wound, were still with them in the bush. My daughter said the abductors were over 100 and that the girls were 243 when they were asked by the insurgent to count themselves.

“Our relations have been calling and some are on their way to Chibok from Maiduguri. Those who are far in Abuja, Lagos and other places have been calling. They have destroyed everything, but those of us who are alive are thankful to God. Our prayer is that this inhumanity would come to an end soon.”

•Photo courtesy on Nigerian Tribune.

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