She hadn't given any sign of life for ten years. The Nigerian army announced Thursday that it had found one of the 276 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, in northeastern Nigeria. Lydia was “rescued with her three children” near the town of Ngoshe in Borno state, the army said in a statement on Thursday. According to the army, the girl is five months pregnant.
The mass kidnapping in the town of Chibok sparked an international outcry in 2014, and sparked an international campaign called “Bring back our girls”. Nearly 100 of them are still missing. Over the years, the army has rescued a number of high school girls, many of whom were forced to marry their jihadist captors.
More than 1,680 students kidnapped since 2014
The members of Boko Haram today weakened by the operations of the army, which has retaken vast areas formerly held by the jihadist group, and internal struggles with its rival faction the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap ), however, continue to carry out attacks in northern Nigeria. They mainly attack remote areas, and target convoys leaving towns protected by the army. The jihadist insurgency in northern Nigeria has left more than 40,000 dead and two million displaced since 2009.
Mass kidnappings remain a major concern in Nigeria, with the proliferation of armed criminal groups called "bandits" who operate on highways, in victims' homes and even in schools to obtain ransoms. More than 1,680 students were kidnapped from Nigerian schools between 2014 and 2022, according to the NGO Save the Children.
In March, more than 130 children were abducted from their school by armed men in the northwestern state of Kaduna. This kidnapping constitutes one of the most significant kidnappings in recent years in Nigeria. The Nigerian military said all the students were rescued weeks later in neighboring Zamfara state.