Schoolgirls kidnapped by jihadist group Boko Haram reunited with families

The schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram jihadist group in Dapchi, northeastern Nigeria, on February 19 and released this week were reunited with their families on Sunday, an AFP journalist saw.

The 105 girls arrived aboard five buses escorted by the Nigerian army to Dapchi, in Yobe state, where they were greeted by their parents after spending three days with the authorities in the national capital Abuja.

The kidnapping of the girls aged 11-19, was the biggest mass abduction since Boko Haram took more than 270 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in 2014 - a case that triggered international outrage.

The Dapchi abduction has piled pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power in 2015 promising to crack down on Boko Haram’s nine-year-old insurgency and could face the voters again next year.