Another Chibok girl has been rescued from captivity, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum said on Saturday.
The rescued girl, Ruth Ngladar Pogu, was married to a Boko Haram fighter and returned with two kids she delivered while in captivity, the Governor said at the Government House in Maiduguri where she was reunited with her mother.
According to statement signed by Zulum’s spokesperson Isa Gusau, Ruth and her apparently repentant husband surrendered themselves to the Nigerian military on July 28 at a location in Bama.
Under Zulum’s supervision, security and government officials kept the development secret while trying to contact her parents and association of parents of the missing schoolgirls in order to ascertain her identity.
About 276 students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, were kidnapped on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists.
The abduction caused a stir worldwide, leading to calls for the return of the girls by global figures, including then First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.
Although a good number of the students have regained their freedom, about 100 are still believed to be in captivity.
In April, seven years after the abduction, Zulum pledged to safely recover the remaining girls.
In a brief ceremony at the Borno Government House on Saturday evening, Zulum noted the use of only force in the terrorism war will not achieve the result needed.
Ruth Ngladar Pogu, now a Muslim, was dressed in a purple hijab during the ceremony.
She and her husband were reported to have been returned by the Federal Government’s Operation Safe Corridor.
Zulum said this was made possible through collaboration between the State Government, Nigerian Army and sister agencies.
“I am extremely excited both as Borno’s Governor and father of all sons and daughters of the state, and also as a father to daughters. I know the feeling of families of those still under captivity but we have to remain hopeful especially with today’s development,” the Governor said.
Chairman of the Chibok Parents Association Yakubu Nkeki confirmed the girl as one of the missing students.
The mother, who is seeing her daughter for the first time in seven years, expressed gratitude to God and government for making it possible for her return.
Ruth was sighted holding her two children. While the boy is about three years old, the girl cannot be more than one.
Ruth Ngladar Pogu is one of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted seven years ago at a Government Secondary School in Chibok came out on July 28, 2021 around Bama axis.
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