63 women, girls ‘escape from Boko Haram’

About 63 women and girls recently kidnapped by Boko Haram have escaped from captivity.

The BBC, quoting security sources, reported that the women were able to escape on Friday when the militants went to attack a military base close to Damboa, Borno State.

The women were reportedly kidnapped in June, although Nigerian authorities denied, saying investigation revealed it was not true.

Reports said they were wives and daughters of Fulani herdsmen.

Military authorities said more than 50 militants were killed in the foiled attack against the military base near Damboa.

BBC reported that a local vigilante Abbas Gava told journalists he had “received an alert from my colleagues… that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home. They took the bold step when their abductors moved out to carry out an operation”.

A high-level security source in the state capital Maiduguri confirmed the escape, AFP news agency reported.

There is still no word on the over 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, on April 14, 2014 ─ a development that drew global attention to the insurgency in Nigeria.