One of the over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno state, rescued today from the notorious Sambisa Forest has confirmed that all the girls are still in the Forest.
The rescued girl whos name was given as Amina Ali Nkeki girl Amina, said however that six of the girls, abducted along with her in April 2014, have died.
Amina Nkeke, who is now 19 year old said: “all the girls are in Sambisa forest, but six of them had died.”
She said that the remaining girls are “well secured and protected” to stop the Nigerian Army from rescuing them.
After her rescue, Amina who is now with a four months old child, was taken to Chibok, where she was identified by her parents. A family member, Yakubu Nkeki, said his wife had a telephone conversation with Amina`s mother and confirmed that they had been reunited.
“It’s a joyful time for me,” said Nkeki, who is the father of another of the abducted girls. He said: “the girl will be taken to the state capital Maiduguri on Thursday.”
The Chibok girl was said to have been rescued by members of the Civilian JTF, a paramilitary force that assists the military in the fight against insurgency in the north-east.
The vigilante group was said to have found her on Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest, close to the border with Cameroon.
An eye witness, Aboku Gaji, gave an account of how he took part in a nightly patrol with the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF), on the edge of the Sambisa Forest when the girl and some companions wandered out at about 7 p.m.
He said that he recognized her as one of the missing schoolgirls, although she looked different and in poor physical condition.
“Their bodies didn’t look good. They had had no bath and were in a dirty condition,” he said.
He added that the young woman was part of a group asking for help, including a man who identified himself as her husband and the father of her baby.
The man said that he had been kidnapped by Boko Haram from the town of Mubi, taken to Sambisa Forest and married to Nkeki.
However, acting director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, who identified rescued girl as Falmata Mbalala, said she had been rescued by government troops at Baale near Damboa – an account corroborated by the minister of information, Lai Mohammad.
The Army said: “in continuation of Operation CRACKDOWN, troops of 25 Brigade Damboa in conjunction with Civilian JTF deployed in one of the blocking positions at Baale, near Damboa, rescued one Miss Amina Ali and a suspected Boko Haram terrorist, Mohammed Hayatu, who claimed to be her husband. Both were brought to Headquarters 25 Task Force Brigade Damboa at about 2.30pm today.”
“Preliminary investigation shows that she is indeed one of the abducted Chibok School girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on 14th April 2014 in Chibok and her name is Amina Ali as against Falmata Mbalala that was earlier stated. In addition, she is a nursing mother with a 4-month-old baby girl who was named Safiya. Both the suspected Boko Haram terrorist and the nursing mother have been taken to Maiduguri for further medical attention and screening.” [myad]
