Schoolgirls who have escaped from Boko Haram kidnappers in the village of Chibok, sit at the Government house to speak with State Governor Kashim Shettima in Maiduguri on June 2, 2014. Credit: STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The women and girls that were kidnapped last month in Nigeria reportedly escaped from Boko Haram over the weekend, according to the BBC.
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In June (either between the 13 and the 15th or on June 21st), more than 60 girls and women and 31 boys were abducted from Kummabza village, with some of the kidnapped reportedly being as young as 3 years old.
The news of the mass kidnappings were like throwing salt on a festering wound as previous — but smaller — abductions had already taken place in the midst of incessant attacks on innocent civilians.
But this past weekend, while Boko Haram was reportedly busy terrorizing yet another area, more than 60 of the girls and women were able to escape.
The BBC reports:
“Local vigilante Abbas Gava told journalists he had ‘received an alert from my colleagues… that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home.'”
“They took the bold step when their abductors moved out to carry out an operation,” he said.
“A high-level security source in the state capital Maiduguri confirmed the escape, AFP news agency reported.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian military says that they killed about 50 insurgents during their operation.
Boko Haram Recruits Girls, Women
Reportedly changing their focus on increasing their ranks, Boko Haram is allegedly employing women to recruit widows and young girls with promises of nuptials to terrorists.
“The arrested trio suspects were luring ladies, especially widows and young girls, by enticing them with male suitors who are mainly members of their terror group, for marriage,” said Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, director of defense information.
The women have been identified as Hafsat Usman Bako, Zainab Idris, and Aisha Abubakar, with Bako being previously married to a terrorist that was reportedly killed by the military.
According to the ministry, “Hafsat continued with the terror group, specializing in surreptitious recruitment of members into their fold.”
The arrests come on the heels of the first-ever suicide bombing attempt by a female of a military building in Gombe.
The suicide bomber perished in the bombing.
RELATED: #BringBackOurGirls: With More Abductions, We Must Be Relentless in Our Pursuit of Justice
