Woman rescued 10 years after Chibok kidnapping

The Nigerian army released an image of the rescued woman with a child

Nigerian soldiers say they have rescued a young woman who was abducted in the Chibok kidnapping 10 years ago.

Two-hundred and seventy-six girls were taken from a secondary school in the town in Borno on 14 April 2014 by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The abductions shocked the world and led to the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which included former US First Lady Michelle Obama.

It is thought that almost 100 of them are still captive or are missing.

On Thursday, the Nigerian army said it had rescued the young woman together with her three children.

She was five months’ pregnant at the time of her rescue and claimed to be from Pemi Town in Chibok, it added.

More than 180 girls captured during the abduction have either escaped or been freed from Boko Haram hideouts in Sambisa forest in Borno, a north-eastern state.

Some of the freed and rescued girls have returned home pregnant or with children.

And some have been critical of the Nigerian authorities about their treatment in state care since returning home.

Mass abductions remain a worry in Nigeria, with kidnap gangs often targeting schools to snatch students for ransom demands.

More than 1,680 pupils were kidnapped between early 2014 and the end of 2022, according to the charity Save the Children.

Last month, more than 130 children were kidnapped from their school by gunmen in northwest Kaduna state in one of the largest abductions in recent years.

Nigeria’s army said all the pupils had been rescued by troops a few weeks later in neighbouring Zamfara state, though no details have emerged about the operation.