The Nigerian army said on Thursday that a girl and her three children had been freed from a raid carried out by extremists ten years ago in northeastern Nigeria, where she and hundreds of other people had been taken hostage.
According to an army statement, five-month pregnant Lydia Simon was saved by Nigerian troops in the Gwoza council region of Borno state, which is the epicenter of the 15-year Islamic extremist conflict.
The declaration was accompanied by an image of Simon with her kids, who look to be between two and four years old. Her family has not yet been reunited with her.
At the height of the extreme violence in the area, in April 2014, Simon was one of 276 girls taken from their school in the Nigerian community of Chibok. Of them, about 82 remain in captivity.
The Chibok abduction, the first in a string of widespread school kidnappings in the country of West Africa, stunned the globe and started a global social media movement known as #BringBackOurGirls.
The Nigerian army only stated that she was saved in a hotspot called Ngoshe, 130 kilometers (74 miles) north of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, without explaining how she was set free.
There is scant indication, according to several Chibok parents and security experts, that a special military effort is underway to release the ladies.
The majority of those who came back in recent years were discovered abandoned in the woods.
According to Chioma Agwuegbo, an activist with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, several of the recently rescued women were either forced into marriages or raped by the insurgents.
“We’ve heard their accounts of the violence and devastation they’ve experienced. Agwuegbo stated, “Someone who was abducted ten years ago is not coming back as the same person.
Chibok villagers joined Simon’s family while they awaited word on when they could visit her. The chairman of the Chibok girls’ parents’ association, Yakubu Nkeki, stated, “We are waiting for an official call. The government has not told us anything.”
