Posted on 07/07/2014 11:20:16 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Sixty three women from Kummabza village and two other settlements in Damboa local government area of Borno State who were kidnapped by suspected members of the Boko Haram on June18 escaped late at night on Friday.
A top security source in Maiduguri who does not want his name mentioned because he was not authorised to speak on the matter confirmed the escape.
He said half of the women who escaped from the camps made it to their homes, while others who were found wandering in the bushes near Adamawa state are now in the custody of soldiers in Gulak town.
Kummabza is closer to Askira Uba in southern part of Borno State and Gulak in Adamawa than Damboa.
Our correspondent recalled that 68 women, including toddlers and girls of less than 15 years were reportedly taken away from Kummabza and adjoining settlements when dozens of Boko Haram fighters, armed with Ak47 rifles, rocket propelled grenades and explosive devices attacked the villages.
Over 30 men were killed and the women taken away to unknown destination around the Sambisa Forest, leaving the villages deserted.
Shortly after the abduction which was confirmed by officials of Damboa local government, but the federal and state and state officials had ordered investigations to verify the incident.
But news of the Kummabza women filtered yesterday with sources saying the development was the aftermath of the fierce encounter between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram insurgents in Damboa, Alagarno and other red sports between Thursday and Friday.
Abbas Gava, a senior official of the local vigilantes in Borno State who are working closely with security officials told journalists yesterday that the women escaped when their captors went out to fight. According to him, “I have just received an alert from my colleagues in Damboa area that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home. They took the bold step when their abductor moved out to carry out an operation”, he said.
Top security sources suggested that many insurgents lost their lives in the battle front and could not go back to their bases.
“We don’t have the details of their escape yet, but we believe God gave them the opportunity at the time the insurgents came in their large numbers to attack Damboa where some soldiers, five policemen and over 50 Boko Haram members were killed,” Gava said.
He described the escape as glad tidings. “If the information I have is something to go by, we still have five women, including a nursing mother that are still missing for now,” he said.
By ‘women’, does he mean 12 - 18 yr olds ?
Not a peep out of Michelle, yet. One would think she’d be crowing about the hash tags.
good to hear- i’ve prayed for them every night, though most specifically for the girls from the school who were abducted...
And there were actually cynics who suggested the hashtag campaign would not get the girls back. See? It worked!
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