The federal government on Thursday made public the names of 21 Chibok school girls released by Boko Haram on Thursday, who met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo .
The girls were abducted by Boko Haram in April 15, 2014. They were freed after negotiations with their captors.
One of the 21 girls has a baby. She is the only one.
The girls who are currently said to be kept at a medical facility were visited By Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the company of some ministers at the Department for State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja. Osinbajo told reporters that only one of the girls returned with a baby.
The names were released by Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
Here are the names made available by the government:
- Mary Usman Bulama
- Jummai John
- Blessing Abana
- Lugwa Sanda
- Comfort Habila
- Maryam Basheer
- Comfort Amos
- Glory Mainta
- Saratu Emannuel
- Deborah Ja’afaru
- Rahab Ibrahim
- Helen Musa
- Maryamu Lawan
- Rebecca Ibrahim
- Asabe Goni
- Deborah Andrawus
- Agnes Gapani
- Saratu Markus
- Glory Dama
- Pindah Nuhu
- Rebecca Mallam
Osinbajo, who briefed state house correspondents, disclosed that the Swiss Government joined Nigerian government’s security team in the negotiation that freed the 21 girls, while insisting that deal was no swap.
Osinbajo said same template that was used in negotiating the freedom of the 21 girls will be used to negotiate for the release of others.Shortly after receiving the girls had an interaction with state house correspondents.
The VP said, “Ourselves and thank the almighty God for the release and subsequent returning home of 21 of the chibok girls who were taken almost 2 years ago. It is an exciting news for the whole country. Everyone is really excited and I believe that we should be very thankful to God.
“I also want to thank the military and all the security services, DSS, Intelligence services across the county as well as our friends and partners, internationally who have also helped in bringing happy ending of captivity of at least 21 of the chibok girls.
“About an hour ago, I met with the 21 chibok girls who have been brought back and they are in good health considering the circumstances they have been held in and they are now being well taken care of in the medical facility. They will be staying there for sometime until we are satisfied about their health condition. Their parents will be coming to join them hopefully by tomorrow.
“There will be therapy, there will be counseling. Of course, we can imagine what they have gone through. So we expect that a lot of psychological therapy and so much needs to be done to get them back.
Exchange
“There was no exchange of any kind. There was no swoop of any kind. Even we we started negotiations, we said we will consider all options available to us. Absolutely, there was no exchange of any kind.”
Future swop
“We must be sensitive to the fact that the government wants this girls back and alive, again, we must balance it against the security and safety of the country. In the process of negotiation, we will look at all options and we will weigh the options carefully and decide what to do. But what has happened and the process we have begun is one which has not involved any type of swoop of Boko Haram commanders or any militant in any way. That is a very good turn of event. We believe that in the next few days and months, we will be bringing in more of these girls using exactly the same kind of negotiation and the same template that we used.”
On whether Red Cross was involved
“The Swiss government worked with us in the process of negotiation but the Red Cross is not involved in the negotiation but in taking the girls back, of course, we worked with the Red Cross because wee were unable to take our own medical team. The Red Cross was not involved at all in the process of negotiation. It was the Swiss government, our own officials: the DSS, intelligence and the military that were involved.”