By CGTN's Fridah Mlemwa

The 82 Chibok schoolgirls who recently got their freedom after being kept in captivity by Boko Haram militants some three years ago finally reunited with their families on Saturday in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, reports VOA.

The girls were freed after Nigeria's government brokered a deal with Boko Haram for a prisoner swap. The 82 girls are part of the 276 who were kidnapped from their boarding school in the country's northeast in 2014. 

 Family members kneeling and praying, while being reunited with one of the released Chibok girls in Abuja. /VCG Photo

21 other Chibok girls were freed in October, while several more have either been released individually or managed to escape. Over 100 of them are still being held by Boko Haram. The Nigerian government has said that it is working towards getting the rest of the girls.

VOA reports that many of the girls were forced to marry their terrorist captors and have had children with them. Some have been radicalized and refuse to return, while it is feared others were used in suicide bombings. 

Of the 2.3 million people displaced by Boko Haram violence since May 2013, at least 250,000 have left Nigeria and fled into Cameroon, Chad or Niger, while over 6,600 are believed to have died in 2014.