Nigerian Schoolgirls Kidnapped by Boko Haram Rejoin Families<br />By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMAY 20, 2017<br />ABUJA, Nigeria — Eighty-two Nigerian schoolgirls released several weeks ago after more than three years in Boko Haram captivity were reunited with<br />their families on Saturday, as anxious parents looked for signs of how deeply their daughters might have changed in the hands of the extremists.<br />Five Boko Haram commanders were exchanged for the girls’ freedom,<br />and Nigeria’s government has said it would make further exchanges to bring the 113 remaining schoolgirls home.<br />"I am very happy and I thank God." The families were reunited in the capital, Abuja, where<br />the girls were taken by Nigerian authorities after their release early this month.<br />Godiya Joshua said that I am really happy today — I am Christmas and New Year,<br />Both groups of freed girls have been in government care in the capital as part of a nine-month reintegration program<br />that President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will oversee personally.<br />Nigeria’s government has acknowledged negotiating with Boko Haram for their release, with mediation<br />help from the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross.<br />The release of the 82 schoolgirls this month followed the release of 21 other girls in October.
