Dapchi girl says terrorists treated them well

110 schoolgirls had been kidnapped by the terrorists on February 19, 2018, during an attack on their school but 104 were released on Wednesday to wild jubilation in Dapchi.

According to a report by Channels Television, the 104 girls returned home in new uniforms looking rough after the terrorists dropped them in town and asked them to find their ways home.

One of the schoolgirls, Khadija Grema, said the terrorists treated them well throughout their month-long stay and that they were not molested.

She also reported how five of her schoolmates died of heart attack and stress as a result of the long trip while the terrorists have held on to one of them for religious reasons.

She said, "That fateful day we were ready for dinner when we heard shootings; then one of our teachers was calling and directing us to go out through the gate.

"When we ran into the insurgents at the gate, they guarded all of us in the pretence that they wanted to rescue us.

"As we continued to move into the breach, they asked for those who were fasting among us then they served us drink meat and food after which we said our prayers and continued the journey.

"We crossed several rivers and streams and into one house where we lived until when we were brought back home; but to be honest, we were treated well. They didn't touch us as they treated us well throughout our stay in captivity.

"They didn't do us anything and their major language is Kanuri and Arab. There were no whites among them as all of them are Africans.

"We didn't know why they brought us back but they told us we are Muslims and we share the same faith and they didn't want us to suffer.

"Five of our colleagues died of heart attack and stress as a result of the long trip. They didn't allow us close to them neither did they subject us to any molestation of any kind of sexual harrassment.

"There's one of the girls that wasn't freed because she is a Christian, she was held back."

No ransom paid for girls - FG

The Federal Government has categorically denied reports that it paid a ransom to Boko Haram to secure the release of the girls.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the "unconditional" release of the girls was as a result of back-channel efforts achieved through "the help of some friends of the country".

Released schoolgirls moved to Abuja

After the 104 schoolgirls, alongside two other released hostages, were documented and profiled in Dapchi on Wednesday, they were transported to Borno State capital, Maiduguri, for onward movement to Abuja.

At the 105 Air Force Composite Command, Maiduguri yesterday, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Rogers Nicholas, presented the released girls to a delegation of the Federal Government.

The delegation was led by Lai Mohammed, and included Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khadija Bukar-Abba.

The released girls, alongside their parents and some aid workers, boarded a Nigerian Air Force aircraft to Abuja late on Wednesday.

Dapchi abduction

Boko Haram militants invaded Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School in Dapchi, Bursari local government area of Yobe on Monday, February 19, 2018, and abducted 110 schoolgirls.

According to accounts by residents, the terrorists invaded the town around 7 pm in over 18 gun trucks mounted with high caliber weapons.

The abduction was a repeat of another Boko Haram attack that happened when militants invaded Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok and kidnapped 276 female students in April 2014.

After several escapes and releases, 112 of the girls remain in captivity of the deadly terrorist group.