Nigerias military has claimed to have rescued 200 girls and 93 women from a notorious Boko Haram stronghold, but an army official said they were not those kidnapped from Chibok a year ago.
Troops have this afternoon captured & destroyed three camps of terrorists inside the Sambisa forest & rescued 200 girls & 93 women, defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a text message on Tuesday, referring to the area in north-east Borno state where the Islamists have bases.
Olukolade gave no indication as to how long it would take for the hostages to be identified, although an army spokesman said they were not from Chibok.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in Chibok, also in Borno, on 14 April last year. Fifty seven girls escaped within hours of the attack but 219 remained in captivity.
In the weeks following the mass abduction, Nigerian security sources and locals said there were indications the girls had been taken to the Sambisa Forest. But defence officials and experts agreed it was probable they had been separated over the past 13 months, casting significant doubt on the possibility that they were being held together as a group.
Boko Harams leader, Abubakar Shekau, has vowed to marry them off or sell them as slaves.
Boko Haram has been blamed for hundreds of other kidnappings, especially targeting women and girls across north-east Nigeria. Amnesty International estimates that the Islamists have kidnapped at least 2,000 women and girls since the beginning of last year.
