One of the Chibok schoolgirls released by Boko Haram on Saturday returned with an amputated leg.
The unnamed girl was among the 82 girls taken from Banki, a town on the border with Cameroon, to Abuja, where they were taken to a Department of State Services clinic.
“Two [of the girls] have injuries,” said, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, who received the girls at the Abuja airport.
“One has hand injury, the other has a leg injury.” He was quick to point out that the amputation had nothing to do with the “rescue” operation, which he said was carried out” professionally, without any hitch.”
The director of medicals, DSS Clinic, Anne Okoroafor, assured that the girls would be given adequate medical care.
The 82 girls were among the 276 female students kidnapped by Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School on April 14, 2014. Fifty-seven of the girls escaped while being taken away and three others were found or rescued by the military.
On October 13, 2016, 21 girls were freed after the Swiss government and international Committee of Red Cross brokered a deal between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian government said in April it was collaborating with “foreign entities” to negotiate for the release of the remaining girls.
“Talks are ongoing through other means with the help of some foreign entities to free more schoolgirls,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said during an interview with BBC Hausa.
“These talks are going on with the help of some countries. You can recall the 21 schoolgirls were freed with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Swiss government officials who got involved in the negotiations. These two have not withdrawn their support in the negotiations,” Shehu said.
“There are also other countries that are lending support to the negotiations by being involved in the talks,” Shehu added. (The Guardian)