Approximately 60 Kidnapped Girls Escaped From Boko Haram And Are Now Safe

An estimated 60 women and girls abducted by the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram have successfully escaped their captors, a security personnel reportedly told the Agence France Presse on Sunday.

According to vigilante leader Abbas Gava, other vigilantes in the area told him that 63 women and girls — who had been kidnapped by Boko Haram from the Kummbaza village in northeast Nigeria in late June — managed to escape their custody on Friday night.

A Nigerian security official allegedly confirmed the incident to the AFP, stating that these women and girls managed to break free from the Boko Haram holding area when the militants left their base late Friday to stage yet another attack against civilians in the country.

Chibok local government chairman Pogu Bitrus also confirmed the escape to local press agents on Monday.

Although these women and girls managed to evade their captors, the estimated 276* Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted in Chibok over two months ago still remain, reportedly, in Boko Haram control.

Their whereabouts is still unknown, although various reports of these young women being sold into slavery or marriage in neighboring countries remains a theory as to their status.

While this large escape effort finally presents some positive news to come out of the egregious human rights violations we've covered about Boko Haram activities in Nigeria, the fact remains that the government — and even many of the international organizations and other countries that have pledged their support and assistance — seems still to be largely unable to combat Boko Haram's efforts to terrorize the population, and especially the female citizens.

*Editor's Note: The actual figure of Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted varies from source to source, but US intelligence estimates that number to be 276.

H/T: Huffington Post