Nigeria Militants Release Second Woman Kidnapped 7 Years Ago

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – There was fresh hope Tuesday that Christian students kidnapped seven years ago in northeast Nigeria will be found after Islamist militants released two young women.

Hassana Adamu was among roughly 276 mainly Christian schoolgirls abducted in April 2014 from a secondary school in the town of Chibok by Islamist terror group Boko Haram.

Around 160 then-teenaged girls have subsequently escaped, been rescued, or released. Girls reported being whipped by their captors to force them into marriage. A group of Christian girls says they experienced a mock execution for refusing to convert to Islam.

The kidnappings sparked an international outcry and a viral campaign on social media with the hashtag #bringbackourgirls.

Nigeria’s army handed over Adamu, who converted to Islam, along with her two children, to Governor Babagana Zulum over the weekend, Worthy News learned.

The governor’s office also confirmed earlier this month that another of the victims had been freed and reunited with her parents.

FORCED MARRIAGE

Governor Zulum said the girl, Ruth Ngladar Pogu, “surrendered” to the military along with someone she said she married during her captivity.

He stressed that the woman would “receive psychological medical care as part of a government rehabilitation program.”

The release of the women raised hope that the other roughly 110 missing young women from Chibok would be found, according to Christian aid workers.

Other parents of kidnapped students are also still searching for their children. About 1,000 pupils had been snatched in mass abductions from schools since December last year, 2020, said Christian charity, Barnabas Fund. Most were abducted in Nigeria’s northern and central states.

In the latest known incident, gunmen reportedly kidnapped last month around 120 students from the Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna State.

Since the July 5 attack, some have escaped or been released but 83 pupils remain in captivity, Barnabas Fund said.

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