Photograph — Quartz

Like a repeat show of the 2014 kidnap of the Chibok girls, 110 girls from a secondary school in Dapchi community of Yobe state, Northern Nigeria, were kidnapped by members of terrorist group Boko Haram. However, it was reported this morning that unlike the Chibok girls, the concerted efforts to secure the release of the Dapchi girls have yielded positive results. According to reports,105 of the kidnapped Dapchi girls were returned this morning by the terrorists to the community.

Here is what we know so far about their forced round trip:
1) On the evening of Monday, 19th February, about 110 girls of Government Girls Secondary School were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants.
2) The Boko Haram militants were disguised as men of the Nigerian Army, and hence had no problem herding the girls into the trucks they bought.
3) Soldiers of the Nigerian Army stationed at Dapchi were withdrawn few hours before the arrival of the Boko Haram terrorists.
4) President Buhari was seen partying at the wedding of the wedding of 2 Nigerian State Governors few hours away from Dapchi, and few days after the kidnapping. (May/may not be related, calm down.)
5) Buhari also bragged later that he responded better than his predecessor when a similar event happened during his administration, while visiting the parents of the abducted school girls. He told the parents that everything would be done to secure the release of the kidnapped children.

6) Amnesty International revealed earlier this week that the Nigerian police and Army were repeatedly warned about Boko Haram’s impending attack on Dapchi. It’s like Nigerian security forces wanted the kidnap to happen so that they could pay the terrorist ranso…no, no, no.

6) Around 3 am, on the 21st of March 2018, Boko Haram terrorists drove into Dapchi community without meeting any resistance, returning 105 girls, with reports saying the missing 5 are dead. “The five Dapchi girls who were killed were trampled to death in Boko Haram’s overcrowded trucks on the day they were kidnapped,” according to Guardian UK.

7) The terrorists dropped a message for the people of Dapchi community; “They (Boko Haram) swore that if they came back and found any girl in school, they’d abduct them again and never give them back.”

8) The Nigerian government, through its original twitter account claims that the release of the girls was as a result of “back-channel” efforts, and that no money was paid.

9) Reports say Nigerian security forces are preventing members of the press from accessing Dapchi community.

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