2nd kidnapped 'Chibok girl' rescued in Nigeria, army spokesman says - Action News
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2nd kidnapped 'Chibok girl' rescued in Nigeria, army spokesman says

A second girl who was among more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in a raid on their school in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok more than two years ago has been rescued, a spokesman for the Nigerian army says.

Nigerian army moving into forest stronghold to get Chibok girls, governor says

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari, second right, receives Amina Ali, the first rescued Chibok school girl, at the presidential palace in Abuja. The army reported Thursday that another girl has been found. (Azeez Akunleyan/Associated Press)

A second girl who was among more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in a raid on their school in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok more than twoyears ago has been rescued, a spokesman for the Nigerian armysaid on Thursday.

An emailed statement carried by PR Nigeria, an officialgovernment agency which releases information, said army
spokesman Sani Usman had "confirmed the rescue of another ChibokGirl this evening," adding that more details would be providedlater.

Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki, the first girl to be rescued, wasfound by soldiers working with a vigilante group on Tuesday nearDamboa, south of Maiduguri in the remote northeast where BokoHaram has waged a seven-year insurgency to set up an Islamicstate.

Officials confirmedAminawas one of 219 girls abducted fromthe government school inChibokin April 2014.

Earlier on Thursday the governor ofBornostate, whereChibokis located, said the army was drawing up plans and
moving into aBokoHaramforest stronghold in a bid to rescuethe remaining girls.

The governor's comments came shortly afterAmina, the firstgirl to be rescued, met NIgerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

"We believe that in the coming weeks we shall recover therest of the girls," GovernorKashimShettimatold reporters.
"The military is already moving into the forest."

Amina Ali, the first rescued Chibok schoolgirl, was flown to Abuja on Thursday and met with Nigeria's president, even as her freedom adds pressure on the government to do more to rescue more than 200 other missing girls. (Azeez Akunleyan/Associated Press)


Previous military attempts to storm Sambisa have met withmixed success, with soldiers making significant in-roads butfailing to finish off the Islamist militants after running intobands of well-armed guerrillas, mines and booby traps.

The #Bringbackourgirls activist group said Amina had toldher rescuers the rest of the girls were under heavy Boko Haramguard in Sambisa.

Soldiers working with a vigilante group found the first girlon Tuesday near Damboa, south of Maiduguri in theremote northeast where Boko Haram has waged a seven-yearinsurgency to set up an Islamic state.
This May 12, 2014, file image taken from video posted by Boko Haram purports to show the missing girls. (Militant video via Associated Press)


Officials confirmed she was one of 219 girls abducted fromthe government school in Chibok in April 2014.

Buhari said Nigeria will do what it can to rescue theremainder of the more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.

"Amina's rescue gives us new hope and offers a uniqueopportunity to vital information," Buhari said during a meeting
with the teenager, her mother and officials after a presidentialjet had flown her to Abuja.

He said the government would make it a priority that Amina,who showed Buhari her four-month old baby, can go back toschool.

"Nobody in Nigeria should be put through the brutality offorced marriage, every girl has a right to education and their
choice of life," he said. "Amina must be able to go back toschool."

After Amina was discovered, the army said it had detained asuspected Boko Haram militant called Mohammed Hayatu, who saidhe was her husband.

On Thursday, the military released pictures of aclean-shaven man in a white shirt and cream trousers sitting
beside Amina on a hospital bed holding the infant in his lap.

15,000 dead

Buhari, 73, Nigeria's former military ruler, cradled Amina'sbaby in his arms during the meeting in the lavish presidential
villa before posing for a group photograph.

Amina, who was accompanied by her mother, Binta, andNigeria's defence minister and national security adviser, spent
more than an hour with Buhari, who made crushing Boko Haram apillar of his 2015 presidential election campaign.

More than 15,000 people have been killed and two milliondisplaced in Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroonduring its insurgency.

Under Buhari's command, and aided by Nigeria's neighbours,the army has recaptured most territory once lost to Boko Haram.

Suicide bombings common

But the jihadist group, which last year pledged loyalty toIslamic State, still regularly stages suicide bombings.

Amina's mother said she feared she would never see herdaughter again after the abduction, which had left her "broken
and devastated".

Boko Haram captured 276 girls in a night-time raid on Chibokin April 2014, its most high-profile assault.

Some girls escaped in the melee but parents of the remaining219 accused then-President Goodluck Jonathan of not doing enoughto find their daughters, whose disappearance led to a wave ofglobal outrage.