158 kidnapped victims reunite with families in Yobe

158 Women and children kidnapped  by Boko Haram  from Katarko village in Yobe state have been reunited with their families in Damaturu the capital of the state.They were released by their abductors after three weeks of captivity.Alhaji Ahmed Goniri, the state Commissioner for Justice and Chairman of the State Committee on Rehabilitation of Victims of Insurgency,disclosed  this while addressing newsmen in Damaturu on Thursday.


He said prior to their reunification, the victims were screened by security operatives to authenticate their status while government provided them with psychological therapy to ease their trauma.The  were released by their captors about  three weeks ago but had to remain in government  custody  to undergo security screening to ensure that they were indeed captives and not terrorists being sent into the society to wreck havoc.Alhaji Abdurahman Dauda, a displaced person,told news men that his wife and six daughters  were among the released .
He said his two sons  are still with their abductors   but expressed optimism  that they will soon be rescued.One of the victims  said   they were  not raped or abused .”They simply asked those who were not interested in their religion to leave, and they eventually released us”, she said.
50,000 naira , bags of  rice, sugar, noodles and wrappers were given to each of the 15 widows among the victims, while 47 other women received N30,000 each and same quantity of rice, sugar, noodles and wrappers.20 boys out of the kidnapped group still still remain in custody of the insurgents  .
SOURCE: REPORTERS365