The Nigerian Army has officially handed over Lydia Simon, the rescued Chibok schoolgirl, along with her three children, to the Borno State government to be reunited with her family.
Major General Waidi Shuaibu, the theatre commander of the North-East Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, announced this development during a handing-over ceremony held at the Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri on Thursday, May 9.
General Shuaibu disclosed that troops from the 82 Division Task Force Battalion successfully rescued the six-month pregnant lady and her children on Wednesday, April 17, in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State.
Now aged 27, Simon has been rescued with three children which she had with her abductors.
“One of such national efforts is the conduct of military operations deep within the terrorists’ enclaves which have yielded positive results to facilitate the rescue of some of the Chibok girls.
“Starting from Esther Marcus, who appears on serial 103 on the abducted Chibok school girls’ list, who was the first to be rescued by troops of 7 Division Gar, till now efforts are still ongoing.
“Just recently on April 17, one more Chibok girl was rescued with her three children from the Mandara mountain by troops of the theatre.
“The rescue will be in line with the strategic direction and guidance from the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff.
“We thank the Chief of Army staff for all the resources he has provided in the theatre to achieve its mandate,” he said.
Newsclick reports that on April 14, 2014, ten years ago, 276 schoolgirls were abducted in the middle of the night from their dormitory in a Chibok school by the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The mass abduction sparked worldwide protests with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Although some of the girls were later rescued, at least 96 of them remained in captivity.