Doubts Over The Second Released Chibok Girl.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – Campaigners for more than 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from their school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria two years ago raised doubts on Friday about army reports that a second girl from the group of abductees had been rescued.

The army said late on Thursday a girl among 97 women and children freed this week by soldiers from Boko Haram captivity was one of the missing Chibok girls.

Amina Ali Darsha Nkeki, the first Chibok girl to be rescued, was found by soldiers and vigilantes on Tuesday south of Maiduguri, capital of Borno state and the epicentre of Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency to set up an Islamic caliphate.

Amina and her four-month-old baby were greeted on Thursday in a highly publicised event by President Muhammadu Buhari, the former military ruler who made crushing Boko Haram a central pillar of his 2015 election campaign.

Hours later, the army said a girl from a second rescued group – Serah Luka from Madagali, a town in Adamawa, the state next to Borno – had also come from the Chibok school and had been among those seized in April 2014.

But campaigners cast doubt on the assertion.

“We’ve cross-checked the list of those missing but the second girl isn’t on the list,” said Auwa Biu, an activist from the #BringBackOurGirls campaign who nevertheless admitted the possibility of mistaken identity. “Maybe she has other names.”

Other campaigners have also said that the number for the missing girl given by the army – 157 – did not tally with the name of the abductee listed in the register.

Hosea Tsambido, who chairs the Chibok Community in Abuja, said Serah did attend the Chibok school but was abducted in a separate incident, not the night-time mass kidnapping that sent waves of revulsion around the world. Source: Yahoo News.

Opinion:

There should have been a DNA profile records of all kidnapped Chibok girls. As soon as one is rescued, the first thing to do would be to match her DNA before going to the media. This would prevent inconsistencies in reports and save the government of embarrassments.