Nigeria confirms freedom of abducted schoolgirl

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria on Thursday said another of the 276 schoolgirls abducted some three years in the country’s northeast was now free, bringing the total of those still in captivity down to 112.

However, independent campaigners for the girls taken by Boko Haram rebels said they had no record of the teenager's name.

“Mariam Mohammed-Isa, 15, female, a JSS (Junior Secondary School) 1 student from Chibok community escaped yesterday from … Boko Haram bondage as earlier announced,” Laolu Akande, spokesman to Acting President Yemi Osinbanjo, said in tweet early on Thursday.

The authorities had broken news of Mariam’s freedom on Wednesday but gave no additional details.

Outside the initial 57 girls who escaped on the night of the abduction, Mariam is the third minor to have escaped the militants on their own.

Last October, Nigeria negotiated the freedom of 22 of the girls. On May 6 this year, some 82 captives were also freed in exchange for at least five Boko Haram commanders.

However, the #BringBackOurGirls movement, which continues to campaign for the teenagers’ freedom, said Mariam Mohammed-Isa was not on their list.

“We've perused our list but can't find the name of the returnee said to be one of our Chibok Girls,” the group said in a tweet on Thursday.