Chibok Schoolgirl's Father Says Whole Village Praised God After Boko Haram Released More Girls
A Nigerian father was so overwhelmed with joy at seeing his daughter again more than three years after she was kidnapped that words fail to describe his feelings.
"Amazing joy" was the nearest words to describe what Yakubu Nkeki felt upon seeing his daughter Maimuna, one of the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014, according to Open Doors USA.
The Nigerian government announced on May 6 that 82 Chibok girls, many of them Christians, had been freed by the Islamist militant group. Days later, Nkeki found out that one of them was his daughter.
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"When I first saw her, she jumped and grabbed me. I held her, I started dancing around with her," Nkeki, head of the Chibok's Parents Association, told the BBC.
"I was so happy to see her and so relieved that she looked fine, no scars or wounds on her body. She looked well kept," he said. "I can't describe it," Nkeki added.
People in Chibok spent the whole night "singing and praising God" after being told of the latest release, he said.
"Everyone in Chibok—not only the biological parents—everybody is rejoicing because of this," he said.
In a previous CP report, other parents also expressed their happiness and excitement in seeing their daughters again.
"I am very, very excited with this development. I cannot even sleep tonight," Yana Galang, whose daughter, Rifkatu, was among the girls seized, was quoted as saying.
"This is a very, very exciting news for us that we have over 80 of our girls coming back again," Bukky Shonibare at the #BringBackOurGirls campaign told Sky TV.
However, the good news is tempered by the fact that as many as 113 other abducted girls still remain unaccounted for.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had earlier threatened to sell the girls from Chibok "in the market."
The Islamist group had also claimed the girls had been converted to Islam and married off.
"Don't you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam?" Shekau said in a video.
"If you knew the state your daughters are in today, it might lead some of you ... to die from grief," he added.
Boko Haram has murdered numerous Christians and attacked several churches. It apparently seeks to create an Islamic state in the Muslim-majority northern Nigeria.
