Two more Chibok girls rescued to make 125 in total as 94 others remain unaccounted for

Two more girls abducted from Chibok Local Government Area, Borno State, by Boko Haram in April 2014 have been rescued by troops of Operation Hadin Kai Theater Command.

Esther Marcus and Hauwa Malta, both of them 26, were rescued by troops at Lagara, a Boko Haram enclave in Sambisa Forest, on April 21, 2023.

These bring the total number of girls now out of the terrorists’ captivity to 125, including 107 released by the terrorists themselves in 2018, three rescued by troops in 2019, two in 2021,  and 11 in 2022.

“94 are still unaccounted for,” the Theater Commander, Operation Hadin Kai Theater Command, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Sallau Ali, told newsmen, Thursday, May 4, in Maiduguri while parading the rescued Esther and Hauwa to newsmen shortly before handing them over to Borno State Ministry for Women Affairs officials.

“Esther was rescued with her one-year-old baby girl,” he announced further, explaining, “While in captivity, she was first married to one Garba, alias Garus, a terrorist, who was later killed by troops; and she was remarried to another terrorist called Abba; she was with him until her rescue.”

General Ali continued, “Hauwa Malta was rescued with an eight months and 10 days pregnancy; she delivered a baby boy at the Seven Div health facility 10 days after their rescue.”

The Theater Commander disclosed that while in Boko Haram captivity, she was first married to a terrorist called Salman who was killed in a troops-terrorists duel in Lake Chad, after which she was married to another terrorist called Malam Mohammed who was killed in a Boko Haram-ISWAP clash.

He said the troops of the joint taskforce of the Theater Command would not relent in their efforts at ensuring that all the abducted girls were rescued.

The Punch