Military forces in Nigeria announced the liberation of a second “Chibok girl” after a combat against Islamic State fighters on Thursday night. A local leader told reporters that she was not part of the 276 Christian students kidnapped by Boko Haram two years ago. Another abducted woman was found Tuesday with a 4-month-old baby.

Army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman said troopers rescued a group of 97 women and children, according to The Associated Press (AP).  The event occurred on Thursday night in the northeastern Sambisa Forest, where soldiers killed 35 Islamic fighters. The girl is supposedly 157 on the list of 218 students.

Military forces in Nigeria announced the liberation of a second “Chibok girl” after a combat against Islamic State fighters on Thursday night. Photo credit: South China Morning Post
Military forces in Nigeria announced the liberation of a second “Chibok girl” after a combat against Islamic State fighters on Thursday night. Photo credit: South China Morning Post

Chibok community leader Pogu Bitrus told AP that she was a visitor at the school, when Boko Haram conducted a mass abduction. Many other students have died in captivity, while some are kept under the command of the terror group established on the forest.

On Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman previously kidnapped by Boko Haram, came back to her community. She was found along a baby nearby the edges of the Sambisa Forest, which is located Between Nigeria and Cameroon. Her liberation brings hope to family members of the 218 missing girls.

On April 14 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from the Government Secondary School located in Chibok. The African village is mostly inhabited by Christian people. 57 students were able to escape, the state of the 218 missing girls remains unknown.

Amina Ali Nkeki is the first student of the group to be found after the mass abduction. She was 17 years when the terror group raided the school. Now, she is the mother of a four-month-baby.

Nigerian government said the army rescued Amina Ali Nkeki, her physician reported a different story

Idriss Danladi, a physician of Ali’s family told AP reporters that the woman was rescued by hunters at the forest. They took her alongside her baby to her residence village, where she met her mother. The family was then transported to a military facility in Maiduguri, the largest city of Borno State in Nigeria.

On the other hand, Nigeria’s military claimed responsibility for the Ali’s liberation. Officers said they rescued her alongside her baby and a Boko Haram member described as her husband. “One of the abducted Chibok school girls was among the persons rescued by our troop”, Col. Usman to AP reporters.

An official who spoke under condition of anonymity said the woman was rescued from the Boko Haram troops by her “husband”. The establishment where she was being retained ran out of food, and the group was worried about the baby, he said to AP.  

President Buhari said Ali’s education will be a priority of the federal government

The 19-year-old woman visited the presidential residence on Thursday. President Muhammadu Buhari said that the government will take actions to give Ali, a “completely different life course”.

“Rest assured that this administration will continue to do all it can to rescue the remaining Chibok girls who are still in Boko Haram captivity. Amina’s rescue gives us new hope and offers a unique opportunity for vital information.” Mr. Buhari was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

Amina Ali Nkeki is the 13th child of Binta Ali, who told New York Times reporters she had driven to despair when Ali was kidnapped. Most of her children died before turning four years old.

“The continuation of Amina’s education, so abruptly disrupted, will definitely be a priority of the federal government. She must be enabled to go back to school. No girl in Nigeria should be put through the brutality of forced marriage. Every girl has the right to an education and a life choice,” said Mr. Buhari.

Source: The Associated Press