FORTY-NINE women kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier this week near Maiduguri in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state were released today after a state official paid a ransom for their release, according to two of the victims and a local leader.
According to two victims who did not want to be named, the ladies were abducted on their fields on Tuesday morning in Shuwaei Kawuri village on the outskirts of Maiduguri.
“We were all released at midnight after Boko Haram said our families secured our release after meeting their demands,” one of the victims said.
While the Islamists had demanded 3 million naira ransom, the women, who are mostly poor peasant farmers, were released after a state official paid 1 million naira to the assailants following negotiations to secure their freedom, the local traditional leader said.
Borno commissioner for youth and police spokesman Sani Kamilu Shatambaya didn’t immediately respond to calls for comment.
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