Four kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls have allegedly
escaped a camp run by the militant islamist sect
Boko Haram in Cameroon, raising hopes for the
more than 200 still missing.
According to TheTimesUK, the four, all aged between
16 and 18, had been told that if they criticised Boko
Haram, their families would be killed. They were
helped to escape by a teenage boy, also a
prisoner, who managed to get them out of the camp,
according to Stephen Davis, a British-Australian
negotiator who had tried to bargain with the
extremist Islamic group for the schoolgirls’ freedom.
The girls, guided by the setting sun, walked west for
three weeks, finally arriving in a Nigerian village,
starving and traumatised.
“They were amazing — to first escape and then walk
for weeks,” Davis told The Times of London. “They
are the only ones that have escaped from a Boko
Haram camp.”
Davis said the girls had been told that if they fled
Boko Haram, their families would be killed.
However, TheNation reports that Director of Publicity
Kibaku Area Development Association Dr. Manasseh
Allen, of the Chibok Community in Abuja, said last
night, after making calls, that he could not confirm
the escape of the girls.