Boko Haram has released nearly 200 hostages,
most of them women, who were kidnapped from a
village in the northeast Nigerian state of Yobe, a
community leader and a military source told AFP
Saturday.
A total of 192 people were released on Friday
from two Islamist enclaves, where they had been
kept since a January 6 raid on Katarko, 12 miles
from the state capital Damaturu.
In all, 218 women and children were abducted.
"Boko Haram have released 192 of our women
they kidnapped early this month," Goni Mari, a
Katarko community leader told AFP from
Damaturu.
"They brought them in two batches in four trucks
and dropped them at Girbuwa village, eight
kilometres from Damaturu, from where we
conveyed them to the city and they were taken
into government custody."

he raid on Katarko saw dozens of Boko Haram
gunmen storm the village, where they killed 25
men and burnt homes and businesses before
kidnapping the women and children.
The attack was apparently in retaliation over a
raid by local hunters and vigilantes in nearby Buni
Yadi, where several militants were killed and
scores of others were arrested, vigilantes said at
the time.
But with Boko Haram raids a near daily occurence
in the restive northeast and no precise figures on
the numbers of people taken, the attack received
little publicity.
Boko Haram fought running battles with troops in
Damaturu the following Friday, again in an
apparent reprisal to the Buni Yadi raid.
A military officer, who requested anonymity
because he was not authorised to speak to the
media, also confirmed the release of the
hostages.

"It is true Boko Haram terrorists yesterday
(Friday) released 192 hostages they kidnapped
from Katarko village," he added.
Mass abduction has been a feature of Boko
Haram's bloody six-year insurgency, with young
men and boys forcibly conscripted to fight
alongside the militants.
Women and young girls have been taken to be
wives for the Islamists, with reports from those
who were freed or escaped of forced labour,
sexual and psychological abuse.
Nigeria

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/11368059/Boko-Haram-frees-200-hostages-in-northeast-Nigeria.html

photo pls!

pinsures or..............