Another girl rescued from Boko Haram

ABUJA, Thursday

The Nigerian Army has said another Chibok school girl abducted by Boko Haram militants in 2014 has been rescued.

The military said the girl, identified as Serah Luka, was rescued by soldiers and special forces supported by members of civilian joint task force in Damboa, Borno State.

Ninety-six other hostages, including women and children, were rescued when the troops invaded a Boko Haram camp in Shettima Aboh area, the army said.

Military spokesman Sani Usman said the girl had been taken to hospital.

“We are glad to say that among those rescued is one of the Chibok Government Secondary School girls abducted on April 14, 2014,” the statement said. “The girl revealed that she was a JSS1 student of the school at the time of the abduction.”

Col Usman added that the girl hailed from Madagali, Adamawa state and that there were three other girls who fled the camp during the Thursday raid.

Usman said during the operation that resulted in the rescue of the girl, 35 Boko Haram fighters were killed while many guns, ammunition and other items were found.

Col Usman said the troops “also cleared the area of terrorists”.

The army on Tuesday rescued one of the abducted girls, Amina Ali, and her baby.

FORMALLY RECEIVED

She was formally received by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday night in Abuja.

Meanwhile, campaigners have questioned a claim that a second Chibok schoolgirl has been rescued, though the army maintains she is one of the 219 abducted by Boko Haram.

Yakubu Nkeki, the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents group, said the military contacted him before the announcement was made on Wednesday about the discovery of the first girl, Amina Ali.

“We were able to identify her and establish her parents,” he told journalists.

“But there was no call before Nigeria’s army announced late on Thursday that a second schoolgirl had been rescued.

The girl told troops and civilian vigilantes that she was a Christian pastor’s daughter originally from Madagali, in neighbouring Adamawa state, and had been in Chibok to sit her exams.

Nkeki said his records showed only two girls with the surname Luka.

“These are Kauna Luka Yana and Naomi Luka Dzakwa. Among the list of parents we have only four priests and none of them is Luka,” he said. None of the girls is from Madagali. They were either from Chibok, Damboa, Askira and Uba (all in Borno state). So I can say... that this girl is not among the abducted students. We were never contacted by the military for verification of the girl’s identity before the announcement was made.”

A human rights activist in Mubi, Adamawa, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of his work, also said a Serah Luka was not on the list of the missing.

A senior military source said it was “beyond reasonable doubt” that the girl was among the 219 held by the islamists.

“Those who carried out the rescue and the civilian vigilantes who know the girl confirmed that she is among the abductees,” he said.

(Additional reporting by AFP)