13th October, 2016
SaharaReporters quoted a government source as confirming the release of 21 of the girls.
The sources disclosed that the girls were picked up by military helicopter from Banki area of Borno state where Boko Haram militants dropped them off earlier today.
The release of the 21 girls comes as President Buhari began a three-day trip to Germany to discuss assistance for the rebuilding of the northeastern part of Nigeria ravaged by Boko Haram.
Also, a senior government official in Nigeria told the BBC that 21 of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants have been freed.
It is understood the girls are being held by the security services in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
It is not yet clear how the girls were rescued, but the Nigerian military is currently carrying out a large-scale operation in the Sambisa forest, Boko Haram’s stronghold.
The Islamist militant group kidnapped more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok in April 2014.
Until now only one girl had been rescued.
A vigilante group found Amina Ali Nkeki in May with her suspected militant husband and her new baby.
Over 200 secondary school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in Chibok in April 2014. There have been outrage from several pressure groups on government to facilitate the release of the school girls.
In recent time, the Federal Government has agreed to enter into negotiation with Boko Haram for the release of the girls through swapping them with some Boko Haram detainees in custody of government.