A woman rescued from Boko Haram in Sambisa forest is seen celebrating her freedom at Malkohi camp for Internally Displaced People in Yola. /Image REUTERS
- People rescued in Boko Haram camp- Sunday, 178 people rescued by Nigerian troops from Boko Haram that destroyed several camps of the Islamic extremists in the northeast of the country.
- 101 of those are children, along with 67 women and 10 men.
About 70km southeast of the state capital Maiduguri, Boko Haram commander had also been captured in the raids on camps around the town of Bama. Nigeria’s airforce helped ground troops repel an attack by Boko Haram.
Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language, founded in 2002, initially focused on opposing Western-style education.
More than a year 200 of the Chibok girls are still missing after they were kidnapped from their school in northern Nigeria. Many of those seized are Christians.
On October, the government said it had secured an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the girls taken from Chibok, but Boko Haram denied this. Nations have been helping including the US and China to find them and there have been reported sightings of the girls, but until now they haven’t found.
According to the human rights organization Amnesty International at least 2,000 women and girls abducted by Boko Haram since the start of 2014. Nigeria’s neighbor Benin pledged 800 soldiers to a new multinational force to combat Boko Haram.
“This is an opportunity for Benin to express solidarity with countries on the front line against the Islamic sect, Boko Haram. This solidarity will result in the sending of 800 men from Benin’s army,” President Thomas Boni Yayi said on the announcement made during a visit from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
People rescued last week said they had been held by Boko Haram for up to one year in villages just 25 miles from Maiduguri.
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