Campaigners
for the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls in northeastern Nigeria have
raised doubts today about the army's report that a second girl from the
group of abductees has been rescued.
The
girl was named by the army as Serah Luka and was claimed to be part of a
group of 97 women and children rescued by the army and vigilantes in
the Damboa area of Borno state yesterday.
It
was claimed Serah was the daughter of a Christian pastor and had only
been at the school for two months when she was kidnapped by Boko Haram
militants, along with 218 of her classmates.
However
only two girls with the surname Luka were on the list of abducted girls
and none was from Madagali, in neighbouring Adamawa state, as the
military said the second student had claimed.
The girl was named by the army as
Serah Luka and was claimed to be part of a group of 97 women and
children rescued by the army and vigilantes in the Damboa area of Borno
state yesterday
Freedom: 19-year-old Amina Ali was
found with her four month old baby and a man she said is her husband two
years after she was kidnapped by Boko Haram alongside 275 other
schoolgirl's preparing for exams
The
head of the Abducted Chibok Girls Parents group, Yakubu Nkeki, said
unlike the first announcement about Amina, the military had not
contacted them beforehand to establish the second girl's identity.
Nkeki also said there were only four priests on the list of parents and none was called Luka.
'I
can say in my capacity as the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents
group that this girl is not among the abducted Chibok girls,' he told
AFP.
The
head of the BringBackOurGirls campaign group in Abuja, Oby Ezekwisili,
said they were 'overjoyed' at the rescue but tweeted: 'We have asked for
some further verification of her identity.'
A
senior military source stood by the army's statement, saying it was
'beyond reasonable doubt' that she was among the girls snatched.
'The
military personnel who carried out the rescue operation and the
civilian vigilantes who assisted them and those who know the girl
confirmed that she is among those abducted,' he added.
'We
can only change our position if the principal of the school or the
government of Borno state come out and refute this established identity
of the girl.'
Army
spokesman Colonel Sani Usman 'confirmed the rescue of another Chibok
girl this evening', a statement said, without giving further details.
Amina's mother Binta revealed she
didn't think she would ever see her daughter again - and expressed her
gratitude to her rescuers and to God for Amina's safe return
The
first of the 219 abducted students - 19-year-old Amina Ali - was found
on Tuesday with the four-month-old baby she gave birth to in captivity.
The
19-year-old was found after her 'husband' - a Boko Haram fighter who is
thought to have been a commander in the terror group - decided to move
to the edge of the forest in search of food.
The army has cut off many of the supply routes which had been providing the fighters and their captives with food.
Nigeria's
military has been mounting an offensive in the sprawling, semi-desert
scrubland since late April to flush out rebel fighters.
Amina,
who met with President Muhammadu Buhari at his official residence in
Abuja earlier on Thursday, was quoted as saying by a campaign group
pushing for the girls' release that all the students were still being
held in the former game reserve, but that six had died.
The
Nigerian government has come under criticism for not rescuing the girls
sooner, but Buhari said the government was 'doing all it can to rescue
the remaining Chibok girls'.
'Amina's rescue gives us new hope, and offers a unique opportunity for vital information,' he said in a statement.
Borno state governor Kashim Shettima said soldiers were 'already moving into the forest aggressively'.
'I
am an eternal optimist. I believe that in the coming days and weeks
more recoveries will be made,' he told reporters on Thursday, just hours
before the news of the second rescue.
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