DAPCHI (Yobe, Nigeria): This file photo taken on February 28, 2018 showing parents going through a list of 110 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram from a college at Dapchi town in northern Nigeria — AFP LAGOS, Mar 21 (AFP): Boko Haram Islamists who kidnapped 110 schoolgirls in Dapchi, northeast Nigeria, just over a month ago have returned 76 of the students to the town, the government said on Wednesday.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the release was "unconditional" and the result of "back-channel efforts" with the help of "some friends of the country", without elaborating.
"The 76 are those who have been documented so far," he said, adding that they were released at about 3:00 am (0200 GMT) and that a full head-count was under way.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said last week the government had "chosen negotiation" to secure the return of the Dapchi girls rather than use military force.
Mohammed said: "For the release to work, the government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could endanger the lives of the girls, hence a non-violent approach was the preferred option.
"Within the period when the girls were being brought back, (an) operational pause was observed in certain areas to ensure free passage and also that lives were not lost."
Nigeria's presidency said separately that the girls were in the custody of the country's intelligence agency, the Department of State Services.
The Dapchi kidnapping on February 19 brought back painful memories of a similar abduction in Chibok in April 2014, when more than 200 girls were taken.
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