Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari received on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Abuja Abuja the 21 Chibok girls recently released by the group Boko Haram. The Nigerian leader expressed his joy and promised that his government was determined to ensure that the rest of the girls were released.

Said Buhari: “My dear children. It’s a happy moment for me and for all Nigerians. We welcome your return to freedom. This is a time when your parents, the nation and the international community were looking forward to ever since your kidnapping on the 14^th of April 2014 “.

President Buhari observed that all Nigerians will continue to remember the sad night of April 14, 2014 where 276 young Nigerian students were abducted from a High School in Chibok, Borno state by Boko Haram. Before this historic release, 57 of the 276 abducted girls had escaped from the hands of their captors and another, Amina Ali, was found in May 2016.

Buhari confirmed that a series of negotiations between the government and Boko Haram Boko with the help of some international partners led to their release. The President who is currently at daggers-drawn positions with his wife Aisha, promised that the girls will receive medical care, nutritional and psychological support and that the federal government will ensure they were reintegrated into society as soon as possible.

By Chi Prudence Asong