A group of 158 women and children abducted by
Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria in
December have been reunited with their families.

They were kidnapped during a raid on Katarko
village in Yobe state and spent about a month in
captivity.

The circumstances of their release are unclear but
they were eventually handed over to the state
authorities for counselling and rehabilitation.
Officials said the reunion in the state capital,
Damaturu, was jubilant.

In April last year, the Islamist insurgents caused
worldwide outrage when they kidnapped more
than 200 girls from a boarding school in Chibok in
Borno state, which borders Yobe.
The schoolgirls have yet to be rescued despite
military assistance from countries such as China,
France, the UK and the US.
'Very happy'
Of the 158 people reunited with their families, 62
were married women and the rest were children,
Musa Idi Jidawa, the secretary of Yobe's State
Emergency Management Agency (Sema), told the
BBC.
He said husbands of 16 of the women had been
killed by Boko Haram during the attack.
Muhammdu Katarko said he was very happy to
see his two daughters at the reunion on
Thursday.

"I had given up when they were kidnapped; my
hope was to see even their dead bodies," he told
the BBC Hausa service.
"But fortunately I have now seen them alive,
health and hearty."
One of the abductees, who requested anonymity,
told reporters in Damaturu that they were treated
humanely by the militants.
She said the insurgents did not rape or abuse the
women during their stay.

The BBC's Ishaq Khalid reporting from
neighbouring Bauchi state says there were
conflicting accounts about how the abductees
gained their freedom.

Some reports suggested the insurgents released
them voluntarily and took them to the outskirts
of Damaturu, he says.

But Mr Jidawa said the militants had come under
attack from the security forces and they had run
away, leaving behind their captives.

The reunited families will stay in Damaturu until it
is safe to return to their village, which is still
occupied by Boko Haram fighters and is in an
area where the military is carrying out operations.

source: www.m.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31551127

Game over, check-up.

Welcome home, good citizens. May we never experience such unfortunate and horrible incidents in our life.