27, Mar 2018 | CJP Team

Boko Haram militants on Wednesday, March 21, drove into Dapchi, Nigeria and released many schoolgirls whom they had abducted in February, Reuters reported. According to residents of Dapchi, more than 100 girls were freed. The group did not explain why the girls were freed, and, according to Nigeria’s information minister Lai Mohammed, girls were freed thus far, and “No ransom was paid to them to effect this release. The only condition they gave us is not to release (the girls) to the military but release them in the town of Dapchi without the military presence.” Boko Haram kidnapped 110 girls whose ages ranged from 11 to 19 on February 19, the largest mass kidnapping since the same group abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014. The 2014 incident received international attention, and prompted the launch of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. One of the girls who was released, Khadija Grema said they were brought back because they were children of Muslims, and that one was still with them because she was a Christian. Grema said some five were dead, but not because they were killed; “it was because of the stress and trauma that made them tired and weak,” she said. Grema claimed they were not harmed, and were provided “very good food”.