Gusau, Nigeria-Hundreds of girls who were\u00a0kidnapped\u00a0from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria last week have been freed, the local governor told AFP on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Muhammadu Buhari expressed \u201coverwhelming joy\u201d at their release and called on the security forces to hunt down their abductors, after Nigeria reeled from its fourth mass abduction in less than three months. \u201cI am happy to announce that the girls are free,\u201d Bello Matawalle, governor of Zamfara state, told AFP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An AFP reporter saw hundreds of girls wearing hijabs gathered at government premises in Gusau, the state capital, where Matawalle hosted a reception for them. Authorities initially said 317 girls were abducted when gunmen, known locally as bandits, raided the Government Girls Secondary School in remote Jangebe village on Friday. But Matawalle said \u201cthe number of those who were kidnapped is 279 and no one was missing.\u201d \u00a0\u201cAll the 279 are present,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the girls were freed with the assistance of \u201crepentant bandits.\u201d They will be given medical care to ensure \u201cthey are well to be back to their school or to reunite with their families,\u201d Matawalle said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor urged parents not to let the incident discourage their children from going to school. \u201cI assure you that the government will provide all measures to prevent further occurrence of this incident, by the Grace of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the girls, Hafsat Umar Anka, recounted their ordeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe trekked all the way,\u201d she said, speaking in Hausa. \u201cSome of us developed sore feet while others could not walk and had to be carried on the back by some of us.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey threatened to kill anyone of us who refused to stay. We were very cautious. They fed us adequately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: \u201cWe were put in a wide ditch littered with faeces and we were made to sleep there.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gusau, Nigeria-Hundreds of girls who were\u00a0kidnapped\u00a0from a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria last week have been freed, the local governor told AFP on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari expressed \u201coverwhelming joy\u201d at their release and called on the security forces to hunt down their abductors, after […]<\/p>\n
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