Boko Haram releases pastor, schoolgirl abducted in Borno

A 58-year-old man, Moses Oyeleke, and a schoolgirl, Ndagiliya Ibrahim Umar, have been released from Boko Haram captivity and reunited with their families.

The release, according to Channels Television report, was facilitated by two local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Kalthum Foundation For Peace and Initiative for Peace Building Movement, after weeks of negotiation and dialogue with the duo’s abductors.

While Oyeleke has been in captivity for seven months, Ndagiliya said she was held for nine months.

Oyeleke, a pastor with the Living Faith Church, Maiduguri, was kidnapped alongside a corps member, Abraham Amuta, last April while on their way to Chibok Local Government Area of the state with charity materials donated by the church.

The corps member, however, is yet to be released.

ALSO READ: Regular training remains critical to Nigerian Army’s constitutional role ― Buratai

Narrating his ordeal, the clergyman said: “We were on our way to Chibok when they caught us and took us to Yale; from there, they took a detour and finally took us to Sambisa because Yale is also their town.

“It was the two of us, myself and my brother, who is still there with them and was not released and they promised us that when they finish discussions, they would release them in December; himself and the elder sister of the girl I was released with.”

On the other hand, Ndagiliya was abducted in a school in Askira Uba Local Government Area of the state, along with her sister and a few others still in captivity.

“Life in the bush, they marry off little girls; women do not talk to men, and movement is restricted,” Ndagiliya recounted her experience.