First of the abducted Chibok girls found in Nigeria

One of Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants found in northeastern Nigeria after she was kidnapped more than two years ago.

A "#BringBackOurGirls" campaigner in Abuja, Nigeria calls for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls.
TRT World and Agencies

A "#BringBackOurGirls" campaigner in Abuja, Nigeria calls for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls.

Nigerian Army confirmed on Wednesday that a girl who was kidnapped by Boko Haram from her school in northeastern town of Chibok has been rescued.

The girl was among the 219 abducted school girls by Boko Haram in April 2014.

"This is to confirm that one of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls... was among rescued persons by our troops," army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said in a statement.

Usman gave the girl's name as Falmata Mbalala and said she was found in Baale, near the town of Damboa, which is 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

Activists and community leaders said she was found on Tuesday night and brought to meet her mother in the town of Mbalala, near Chibok, before being taken to a military base in Damboa.

Manaseh Allan, a Chibok youth leader also said, "The girl was found by local vigilantes in Kilakesa village on the edge of Sambisa Forest near Damboa."

"She was brought first to Chibok by the vigilantes who took her to the vice-principal of her school, who immediately identified her as Aisha Ali, which is her name in the school register."

"She was presented to community leaders as Amina Ali but her name as it appears in the school register is Aisha Ali'' because "It is common for children in Chibok to be called with one name in school and another at home'' Allan said.

TRT World and Agencies

Boko Haram released a video of the kidnapped schoolgirls in 2014, where they appeared reasonably fit and well in a wooded location, followed by a rant from the group's leader Abubakar Shekau.

The story of two years of abduction

On April 14, 2014 Boko Haram militants kidnapped 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok in northeastern Borno state.

The girls were forced from their dormitories into trucks and driven into forest. Around 57 of them managed to flee.

An international media campaign was launched, backed by personalities including US First Lady Michelle Obama and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

Soon after, the incident gained the attention of the international community and #BringBackOurGirls hashtag stormed social media.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the mass abduction in a video released by the group on May 5.

On May 17, 2015 Lake Chad Countries, Benin,Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria announced "declaration of war" against Boko Haram and vowed to fight against the militant group.

TRT World and Agencies

Protesters call on the Nigerian government to rescue the girls taken by Boko Haram from a school in Chibok.

Throughout 2015 Nigerian military announced the rescue of hundreds of people, most of them women and children also kidnapped by Boko Haram.

But the missing schoolgirls remained abducted.

Since the militant group changed its tactics, young girls and children have been exploited as suicide bombers in attacks on crowded places such as mosques and markets.

On April 13, 2016 US television channel CNN broadcasted a "proof of life" video sent by Boko Haram in which 15 of the abducted girls were seen alive.

And on May 18, Nigerian Army confirmed the first of the schoolgirls was found.

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