On 13 October, according to the Nigerian President’s spokesman Garba Shehu, Boko Haram released 21 of the 275 girls kidnapped in Chibok in April 2014 to the Nigerian Army in Maidugiri, capital of Borno state.
Shehu said the release was ‘the outcome of negotiations between the administration and Islamist militants’. He said on Twitter that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Swiss government had acted as mediators in the talks with Boko Haram and that negotiations were continuing.
Ransom paid?
A security official said that four imprisoned Boko Haram militants were freed in exchange but this was later denied by the government. Subsequent reports suggest a ransom was paid.
