The Nigerian government has said “no ransoms were paid” in the release of dozens of schoolgirls kidnapped a month ago by Boko Haram extremists.
Nigeria says 76 of the 110 schoolgirls are confirmed freed but that the release is “ongoing.”
Nigeria’s information minister, Lai Mohammed says the girls were released “through back-channel efforts and with the help of some friends of the country, and it was unconditional.”
Witnesses in Dapchi town say the extremists drove into town before dawn and dropped off the girls with a warning: “Don’t ever put your daughters in school again.”
Meanwhile, Boko Haram militants have issued an ominous warning to the parents of the Nigerian schoolgirls after releasing the girls in the town where they were abducted a month ago.
READ: 76 Dacphi schoolgirls released – Lai Mohamamed
A witness in the town of Dapchi tells The Associated Press that the fighters told residents they had returned the girls “out of pity.”
“And don’t ever put your daughters in school again,” they warned.
Boko Haram translates as “Western education is forbidden” in the local Hausa language.
It is not immediately clear how many of the 110 girls have been freed.
In 2014, the group abducted 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, and about 100 of them have never returned to their families.
