21 Nigerian schoolgirls released by terrorist group,"Boko Haram"to receive rehabilitation.

21 Nigerian schoolgirls released by Boko Haram will receive medical treatment, trauma counseling

Twenty-one of the 218 missing Nigerian schoolgirls abducted in 2014 by Boko Haram militants  were released Thursday as a result of negotiations with the extremist group, government officials said. 

 The girls were released in northern Borno State, rescued by a military helicopter and transported to the state capital, Maiduguri, said Mallam Garba Shehu, spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari.

Officials said the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government acted as neutral intermediaries leading to the first major breakthrough since the girls’ kidnapping in April 2014.

Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, told reporters in Abuja that the rescued girls were being flown to the nation’s capital for treatment and trauma counseling.

“Ahead of their arrival, we have assembled a team of medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, trauma experts to properly examine the girls, especially because they have been in captivity for so long,” he said. “They will also be adequately debriefed.” 

Mohammed said the government was in the processing of contacting parents and relatives. He denied media reports based on unnamed officials that the girls were swapped for Boko Haram commanders.

“As we have always said, we have been working on the safe release of the girls and following all the leads available,” Mohammed said. “Please note that this is not a swap. It is a release, the product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both sides. We see this as a credible first step in the eventual release of all the Chibok girls in captivity.”