Nigeria's military said on Friday it had rescued 90 people, including
women and children, after dislodging Boko Haram Islamists from two
villages in the country's restive northeast.
Acting army
spokesperson, Sani Usman, said in a statement that "troops rescued 23
men, 33 women and 34 children from the terrorists" on Thursday in the
villages of Dissa and Balazala, which lie in the vicinity of the town of
Gwoza in Borno state.
Gwoza was where Boko Haram declared its
so-called caliphate last year before the strategic town was recaptured
by government troops in March.
The military said it had reopened a
primary school in the town which had been shut down because of the
insurgency, and pledged to implement security measures to ensure the
safety of pupils and teachers.
"The
reopening of the combined primary school in Gwoza is significant as the
eradication of Western education is part of the aims of Boko Haram in
their murderous campaign of terror," it said.
More than 200 girls
abducted from their school in the north-eastern town of Chibok in April
of last year are still being held by the Islamists in a kidnapping that
shocked the world.
The military also said it intercepted several
Boko Haram fighters fleeing the battle zone disguised as internally
displaced people.
In six years of bloodshed, the Boko Haram
insurgency to carve out an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left
at least 15 000 dead and left more than two million others homeless.
A regional force involving troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin is about to deploy to fight the extremists.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Nigeria frees 90 after dislodging Boko Haram from NE villages
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