LAGOS, May 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 82 out of the more than 200 Chibok girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 in Nigeria's restive northeastern Borno State have been released, a government source told Xinhua late Saturday.
The source told Xinhua that the girls were released following a negotiations between the extremist group and the Nigerian government.
"Yes, 82 girls are freed and they are due to fly to Abuja from Banki town in Borno State," the source told Xinhua.
The release came barely a month after President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration has engaged local and international intermediaries in reaching out to Boko Haram for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls in captivity.
The government was willing to bend over backwards to make the abductors of the girls release them, the Nigerian leader said in a message to mark the coming 3rd anniversary of the abduction of the schoolgirls on April 14.
He said the government was in constant touch through negotiations and local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted people.
He appealed to the parents and all Nigerians not to lose hope on the return of the remaining schoolgirls.
More than 200 schools girls were seized by armed men who stormed their dormitories on the night of April 14, 2014, at the Girls Secondary School in Chibok. Some had managed to escape while others remained unaccounted for.
In October, 2016, 21 girls were freed following negotiations between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of more than 20,000 people and displacing of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since their insurgency started in 2009.
Nigeria has made a considerable gain on the Boko Haram front, with its security forces operating in the restive region dislodging Boko Haram fighters from the Sambisa Forest, the group's largest training camp in the country, in January.
