Nigerian Troops Rescue Chibok Girl Taken in 2014 Mass Abduction

(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s military said it rescued a girl who was among the more than 200 students kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists from their dormitory in the northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014.

Salomi Pagu, from Chibok, was “intercepted” in the town of Pulka in Borno State, military spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu said in an emailed statement Thursday. She is receiving medical attention, he said.

The April 2014 mass abduction caused an international outcry and led to the #BringBackOurGirls social-media campaign championed by then-U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama.

The rescue of a group of 82 girls last year and 21 others the year before has given hope that more of them could be freed. Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009 to impose its version of Islamic law in Africa’s most populous country. Its attacks have left tens of thousands of people dead and spilled into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

About 30 young men were abducted by suspected Boko Haram militants Tuesday in Borno state, Abbati Bukar, a member of a youth group helping the military fight the Islamists, said by phone Thursday.

--With assistance from Yinka Ibukun

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Olukayode in Maiduguri at molugbode1@bloomberg.net, Mustapha Muhammad in Kano at mmuhammad10@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Sophie Mongalvy, Michael Gunn

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