A security source said more than 60 women and girls who were abducted by Boko Haram in June have escaped.
According to the BBC, the women and girls were part of a group kidnapped near Damboa in north-eastern Borno state in late June. They managed to escape when their captors left to attack a military base. Via AFP:
Local vigilante Abbas Gava said he had “received an alert from my colleagues … that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home” late Friday.
[…]
Gava, a senior official of the local vigilantes in Borno State who are working closely with security officials, told journalists the women escaped when their captors went out to fight.
“They took the bold step when their abductors moved out to carry out an operation,” he said. Clashes took place between the Islamists and the army late Friday after an attack by the insurgents in the town of Damboa, where more than 50 of them were killed, the army had said.
According to AFP, a security source who confirmed the story requested to remain anonymous. About 200 schoolgirls are still being held hostage by Boko Haram. On Sunday, activists tried to march on the presidential palace in Abuja but were turned back by security forces.
“It’s 83 days today that the girls have been abducted,” activist Aisha Yesufu told reporters. “We have been coming out for 68 days and nobody has really listened to us.”
Image via Getty.