The Nigerian army said Sunday it had recaptured and “secured” the<\/p>\n
northeastern town of Chibok, where Islamic militants abducted more than
\n200 schoolgirls in April.<\/p>\n
The army recaptured the town Saturday evening from Boko Haram militants,
\nspokesman General Olajide Olaleye told AFP in a text message. “Mopping up
\nops ongoing. (The) town is now secured,” he said.
\nLeading elder Pogu Bitrus told AFP the town was re-taken in a joint
\noperation with local vigilantes known as the Civilian Joint Task Force,
\nwho back up the military in several parts of the northeast where Boko
\nHaram is active.<\/p>\n
He said the vigilantes fought inside the town while army soldiers “stayed
\noutside the town to mop up the insurgents trying to escape.”<\/p>\n
Boko Haram had captured the town on Thursday after a battle lasting
\nseveral hours.
\nSeveral inhabitants said the army had fled the assault, leaving the
\nvigilantes to fight on their own.<\/p>\n
Control of Chibok is crucial to the reputation of the army and the
\ngovernment, which have come under harsh criticism for their failure to
\nrescue the schoolgirls.<\/p>\n
The Islamists stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on
\nthe evening of April 14 and forced 276 students onto trucks in a mass
\nabduction that caused global outrage.<\/p>\n
Fifty-seven managed to escape.<\/p>\n
The insurrection by Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in
\nmainly Muslim northern Nigeria, has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the
\npast five years.<\/p>\n
They have seized more than 20 towns and villages in the northeast in
\nrecent months.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Nigerian army said Sunday it had recaptured and “secured” the northeastern town of Chibok, where Islamic militants abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April. The army recaptured the town…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n