Boko Haram hands over 13 hostages to Nigerian government

World
Europe

Boko Haram has freed 13 hostages, according to Nigerian authorities on Saturday, after a campaign of attacks by the jihadist group that has killed thousands since 2009.

Three of the hostages were lecturers from the University of Maiduguri who were abducted while on an oil exploration trip in Magumeri, northeastern Borno state, back in July 2017. The other 10 were women police officers kidnapped in a raid on a convoy the previous month.

The kidnappings were part of a campaign of attacks last year by the jihadist group, whose bid to create an Islamic state in the northeast has killed at least 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes since 2009.

“Their release followed a series of negotiations as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari and was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),” said presidential spokesman Garba Shehu.

All 13 are now in the custody of the Department of State Security Services and are on their way to capital Abuja, he said, adding that doctors and psychologists are ready to help the victims, who may meet the president before being released to their families if there are no security issues.

The ICRC said it had acted only as a neutral intermediary in the negotiations.

The ICRC also acted as an intermediary in the release in October 2016 and May 2017 of some of the more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014.

So far, 106 of the girls have been found or freed, while 100 are still believed to be in captivity. Concerns were raised about the safety of the captive girls due to reports of the Nigerian military conducting an ongoing “clearance operation” of the Sambisa forest that had killed Boko Haram militants.

(Top image: Carter Bridge in Lagos, Nigeria /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AP ,Reuters