Chibok Schoolgirl Joyfully Reunites With Family in Nigeria
Local Editor
The uncle of one of the 82 Chibok schoolgirls released this week described his "amazing joy" after being reunited with his niece, who has been held captive by the extremist militant group Boko Haram for three years.
"Today is a wonderful day," said Yakubu Nkeki on Monday night. "I saw the girls and Maimuna. When she saw me, she ran and grabbed me and started crying. I was so overwhelmed."
Nkeki, the chairman for the Chibok parents' group and a primary school teacher who taught many of the schoolgirls, spent three hours with his niece Maimuna Usman, 20, and the other 81 former Boko Haram captives in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, where they have been kept since their unexpected release on Sunday.
"I was so happy to see her and so relieved that she looked fine, no scars or wounds on her body. She looked well kept. I can't describe it."
But his joy was tempered by concerns over when other parents would be allowed to see their daughters and for the wellbeing of the women and girls.
Nkeki met the minister of women's affairs on Tuesday to discuss when the families can meet their daughters.
The women and girls, who were among the 276 mostly Christian schoolgirls seized from their dormitories in April 2014, causing an international outcry, were released last Sunday in exchange for five militant leaders, following months of negotiation by participants across two continents.
The families said their release gave them hope that others would soon be freed.
The girls will spend five to seven days undergoing medical and psychological tests.
More than 100 of the girls remain in Boko Haram's hands along with hundreds of other women and children, some of whom have been forced by the militants to carry bombs to busy areas and to kill themselves and civilians. The Chibok girls reached international attention when the hashtag #bringbackourgirls was promoted by Michelle Obama and other celebrities.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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