Boko Haram militants have released 82 schoolgirls out of a group of more than 200 who they kidnapped from Chibok in Borno State in April 2014, officials said on Saturday.
The girls were released through negotiations with the government, one official said, asking not to be named.
Online news medium Sahara Reporters report that a military source said the girls were currently in Banki near the Cameroon border for medical checks before being airlifted to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
The kidnapping was one of the high-profile incidents of Boko Haram’s insurgency, now in its eighth year and with little sign of ending. About 220 were abducted from their school in a night-time attack.
More than 20 girls were released last October in a deal brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Others have escaped or been rescued, but 195 were believed to be still in captivity prior to this release.
