Kidnapped Nigerian girls freed, return to Chibok with babies

The military of Nigeria has freed two schoolgirls kidnapped nine years ago by an Islamist militant group. One had a one-year-old, while the other had her second kid days after liberation.

Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 Chibok schoolgirls, including Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, in April 2014.

According to Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Ali, who leads the Nigerian military effort against extremist violence in the northeast for more than a decade, Nigerian soldiers rescued them in April and reunited them with their families in Borno state.

Nine years ago, Boko Haram gunmen invaded the Borno school as girls prepared for exams. #BringBackOurGirls was started after the mass kidnapping. Over 20 girls have escaped in the past year, but nearly 100 are still missing.

On Thursday, Ali informed Maiduguri journalists that Maltha and Marcus, both 26, were forced to marry radicals. His remarks echoed parents’ and activists’ fears over Boko Haram’s abuse of girls, whose Hausa moniker means “Western education is forbidden.”
Both girls married three times after losing husbands to Nigerian military fighting.

“Hauwa was about eight months and two weeks pregnant during her rescue, delivered a bouncing baby boy on April 28 while undergoing thorough medical examination along with her baby Fatima,” stated the military commander.

The girls’ reappearance thrilled Chibok residents. “It has made the memories fresh for the parents that their children are still missing,” said local leader Hassan Chibok.

After leaving the extremist-held Sambisa Forest, several girls have returned home. Their parents and the released girls stated most who returned had babies after being coerced into marriage or losing hope of freedom.

Boko Haram has expanded since the 2014 abduction. Most of its members are now Islamic State-backed thugs. The U.N. Development Program reports that extremist violence in Nigeria has killed 35,000 and displaced 2 million.