THE Federal government has reiterated its commitment to recovering the school girls held captive by Boko Haram terrorists.

Despite the failure of the government to secure the release of all the school girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno state, nine years after the incident, the ministry of Women Affairs has urged Nigerians to keep hope alive.

According to the minister, Pauline Tullen, while efforts are in place to secure the girls, Nigeria must continue to pray for the success of the security operatives.

Tullen, at a prayer meeting in Abuja on Friday, April 14 organised against the backdrop of the ninth anniversary of the 276 school girls’ abduction, said the government had rescued 122 girls, while 97 are still in captivity. Fifty-seven escaped on their own.

According to her, some of the released girls went through de-radicalisation, and were part of the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes designed by the ministry.

The programme was funded by the Federal government and international partners, with a committee headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

The minister also noted that the released girls were enrolled at the American University, Yola, and were involved in a special programme meant to help them cover lost sessions.

Abduction of Chibok girls

On the night of April 14, 2014, Boko Haram militants attacked a government secondary boarding school in Chibok, Borno state, where girls from surrounding areas had gone to take examinations.

The attack was the Boko Haram sect’s way of opposition to western education, which the militants believe corrupts the values of Muslims.

The gunmen arrived at night and raided the dormitories. They loaded 276 girls onto lorries and took them out of the town.

Some escaped by jumping off the lorries and running into the bushes.

In the end, the abductors took 219 girls.