Under massive pressure from Nigeria & the international community, the militant Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has agreed to release more than 200 schoolgirls they kidnapped earlier this year, military officials announced Friday.
Nigerian officials announced that the insurgents agreed to a truce with government forces and will free the students after holding them in a remote forest since their abduction six months ago, according to reports.
Government spokesman Mike Omeri said Boko Haram would not be ceded any territory under the agreement but refused to reveal what concessions were made to secure the release of the girls. “We are inching closer to release of all groups in captivity, including the Chibok girls,” Omeri told the BBC.
The girls were seized during a Boko Haram raid on a school in the town of Chibok and their continued captivity has sparked international outrage.
The hostages are believed to be under armed guard somewhere is the sprawling, lawless Sambisa forest, along Nigeria’s border with Cameroon “We are monitoring the news with huge expectations,” members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign said in a tweet on Friday.
Nigerian officials said that the girls are in good condition and have not been physically harmed. Sources told the Voice of America that the girls will be handed over to Chadian officials for transfer to Nigerian authorities.
Nigerian and Boko Haram delegates will meet in the Chadian capital to continue talks over the group’s demands that include the release of prisoners.
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