Reports: 4 More Nigerian Girls Escape

Details are sketchy, as former president has negotiations with Boko Haram
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2014 4:31 PM CDT
Reports: 4 More Nigerian Girls Escape
Nigerian defense official Alex Badeh speaks during a demonstration calling on the government to rescue the kidnapped girls in Abuja, Nigeria, May 26.   (AP Photo/Gbenga Olamikan)

Signs of hope for Nigeria's kidnapped girls? USA Today rounds up reports in Nigerian newspapers saying that four more girls escaped from their Boko Haram captors. Scant details were available, but an official in Chibok—the village from which the girls were abducted—was quoted as saying the girls had escaped yesterday. Reuters quotes education chief Musa Inuwa as saying they had been reunited with their families, but Inuwa provided no other details. Another official in Borneo state said the escape might have happened weeks ago, not too long after the girls were kidnapped.

The development, iffy as it is, comes after a Nigerian defense official said the military knew where the rest of the girls were being held but was hesitant to raid the area for fear of endangering them. Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo is reportedly in talks with representatives of Boko Haram to try to secure the girls' release, reports AFP. Obasanjo, however, has been critical of current President Goodluck Jonathan's decision to accept foreign help in finding the girls, and it's unclear whether his diplomacy is sanctioned by the government. (More Nigeria stories.)

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