Ruth Nglari Apagu contacted government forces in northeastern Nigeria along with her husband and two children. The man was one of the Boko Haram soldiers who abducted her from the school in Chibok in April 2014.
Hassan Adamu also volunteered for soldiers in Borno State, along with his two children.
57 of the more than 270 schoolgirls who were abducted have previously escaped from the militant Islamist group Boko Haram’s captivity. 21 others were released after negotiations led by the Red Cross and Switzerland in 2016, while 82 were released in a prisoner exchange with the Nigerian authorities the following year.
Over 100 of the girls are still missing. The fact that two of the girls have now appeared has again aroused hope in the relatives.
– Many of the parents had given up hope, but with this development we hope that they are still alive and that they will come home, says a local leader in Borno.
Boko Haram began its armed uprising in northern Nigeria in 2009 and, according to experts, has been behind at least 30,000 killings over the years.
Thousands of people have been abducted and forcibly recruited, and 1.8 million people have been forced to flee in three states in northeastern Nigeria.
Boko Haram is also active in neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
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