A group of young women and girls kidnapped on November 22 in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state were released late Saturday night.
Their release comes amid a rise in incidents of kidnapping of youth across the country in the last two weeks.
“All 12 people were released,” Abubakar Mazini, chairman of the local Askira-Uba council, told AFP news agency.
The Nigeria Army said, “The rescued girls have been transported to a secure military facility where they are receiving comprehensive medical care, psychological support and debriefing. Upon completion of these processes, they will be formally reunited with their families.”
Last Saturday, 13 women and girls aged between 16 and 23 were abducted near farms near an area that has become a jihadist base.
The army said Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province ISWAP was behind the kidnapping.
The gang freed one of them when she told them that she was breast-feeding a child.
Tinubu declares security emergency
Borno state is at the center of Nigeria’s conflict with jihadists, which began with Boko Haram 16 years ago.
Although the jihadist movement has lost momentum, Boko Haram and its rival, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), remain a threat in the region.
The latest abduction is a stark reminder of the abduction of around 300 girls in Chibok in 2014.
Elsewhere in the country, armed gangs seized more than 300 children from a Catholic school in mid-western Niger Delta state last week.
Although some managed to escape, more than 265 children and teachers are still in captivity. These kidnappings were claimed by local gangs rather than jihadists.
On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu ordered a massive recruitment of police and military personnel, declaring a state of security emergency.
He approved the State Services Department to deploy trained forest guards and recruit more staff to flush out armed groups hiding in the forests.
“There will be no longer any hiding place for the agents of evil,” Tinubu said in a televised address.
Edited by: Louis Olofse