113 still remain unaccounted for

The 82 freed Chibok schoolgirls arrived in Nigeria’s capital on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari as anxious families awaited an official list of names and looked forward to reuniting three years after the mass abduction.

The newly released girls arrived at the Abuja airport and were met by Mr. Buhari’s chief of staff, presidential adviser Femi Adesina said. The President was expected to meet with the schoolgirls at 4 p.m. local time (1500GMT).

The 82 girls were freed Saturday in exchange for an unspecified number of detained Boko Haram suspects, Mr. Buhari’s office said. This is the largest negotiated release so far of the nearly 300 girls whose abduction in 2014 highlighted the threat of Nigeria’s home-grown extremists who are linked to the Islamic State group. Before Saturday’s release, 195 of the girls had been captive. Now 113 girls remain unaccounted for.

A first group of 21 girls were released in October as Nigeria announced it had begun negotiations with the extremist group. At the time, the government denied making an exchange for Boko Haram suspects or paying ransom.

Government care

The girls released in October have been reported to be in government care in Abuja for medical attention, trauma counseling and rehabilitation, according to the government. Human rights groups have criticized the decision to keep the girls in custody in Abuja, nearly 900 km from Chibok.

The girls should be quickly released to their families and not be subjected to lengthy government detention, Amnesty International said, adding that they don’t deserve to be put through a “publicity stunt”.