One hundred and five out of the 110 female students abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State on February 19, 2018 regained freedom on March 21, 2018 when their captors transported them in trucks back to Dapchi village.
When the news of the release broke initially, the minister of information and culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed put the figure at 76 but later changed it to 91 girls and a boy.
Later, he announced that the number had increased to 101 with the documentation of more freed girls by security agencies.
Towards evening of that day, Mohammed said at the Air Force Base in Maiduguri, Bornu State, said that the number had increased to 105.
Giving reason for the piecemeal release of the figures, Mohammed said the figures kept changing “the girls went to their homes after they were released in Dapchi.”
“What we have now is 105 girls and a boy; that makes it 106 persons released today (Wednesday),” he added.
As earlier reported by NewsGazette, five of the abducted girls died of asphyxiation on the day of captivity and were given a mass burial while the only Christian among the captives, Liya Sharibu was still being held because she refused to renounce her faith.
“One of the girls was asked by the insurgents to renounce her Christian faith and embrace Islam. But she told them that she was a Christian and will not like to be converted. She was held on account of that,” Channels Television quoted one of the freed girls as saying.