Chibok abductions in Nigeria: More girls ‘flee kidnappers’

Seven of the 85 schoolgirls still missing after being abducted last week in Borno state have escaped, the state governor says. Another girl had run home on the day of the attack, meaning 77 are still missing, said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima. About 130 girls were seized from their school hostel by gunmen last Monday. Islamist group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the kidnapping but has not issued any statement. Some 1,500 people are believed to have been killed in attacks blamed on Boko Haram this year alone. The group, whose name means “Western education is forbidden”, is fighting to establish Islamic law in Nigeria. It often targets educational establishments. Mr Shettima did not give details of how the girls had escaped, for security reasons. The headmistress of the school in the town of Chibok on Saturday called on the kidnappers to “have mercy on the students”. It is thought that the militants took the girls to forested areas near the Cameroonian border. Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in north-east Nigeria have been under emergency rule since last May. Meanwhile, parents say 234 girls are missing from the northeast school, nearly three times the number reported by education officials. The higher figure comes a week after the kidnappings, the state governor having insisted a military escort take him to the town. Security officials had told Governor Shettima that it was too dangerous for him to drive to Chibok, 80 miles from Maiduguri, the haunts of the Boko Haram terrorist network. Official figures from Education officials put the figure of children abducted at 85. The discrepancy in the figures remains an ongoing frustration in rescue efforts by parents, vigilante groups and law enforcement.