98 Chibok girls are still in captivity, says military

The Nigerian army has said ninety-eight students of Government Girls’ Secondary School Chibok of Borno State out of the 276 abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014, are still in captivity.

The Head of the Intelligence Unit of the Joint Military Taskforce in the North East Operation Hadinkai, Colonel Obinna Ezuikpe, said this while fielding questions from newsmen at its headquarters, Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri.
He said, “Out of the 276 abducted Chibok girls, 57 girls escaped in 2014 while 107 girls were released in 2018. Three girls were recovered in 2019, two in 2021 and 9 were rescued in 2022, bringing the total of 178 girls out of captivity and 98 remaining in Boko Haram captivity.”

On activities of troops of Operation Hadinkai in August 2022, Colonel Ezuikpe said a total of 43 terrorists were neutralised, while 24 others were arrested by the troops in August alone, apart from the over 100 killed in September 2022.

Troops also recovered several weapons, including 129 AK-47 rifles, 1,515 rounds of ammunition, 16 FN Rifles, 3 MG, 17 grenades, among others, during the operations.

He also disclosed that the military recorded 26 attacks from the terrorists, and in the process, two soldiers were killed and 9 others sustained various degrees of injury. The military chief added that the troops carried out a total of 2726 patrols and 982 ambushes against the terrorists.

Commenting on the arrest of suppliers of logistics to Boko Haram, Ezuikpe further revealed that from June 2022 till date, a total of 113 people who are suppliers of food, fertiliser and other logistics to the terrorists were arrested.