UNICEF commends release of 82 Chibok Schoolgirls

Rescued Chibok Girls

The United Nations Children’s Fund has commended the release of 82 girls abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014. “It is heartening to know that the girls will be returning to their families who have been waiting for this day,” the Fund said in a statement on Sunday.

But it added the girls would face a “long and difficult process to rebuild their lives after the indescribable horror and trauma they have suffered at the hands of Boko Haram.” It declared it would support Nigerian authorities to provide necessary “comprehensive psychosocial support and other specialized services.”

It will also help reunite the girls with their families and ensure they can continue schooling in a safe environment. The girls were reported to have been taking their secondary-school certificate exams when the insurgents stormed their school and kidnapped them. UNICEF also called on Boko Haram to end all “grave violations against children, especially the abduction of children and the sexual abuse and forced marriage of girls.”