The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Women and girls are still being kidnapped in Nigeria. Here’s why it’s unlikely to stop.

101 girls were returned Wednesday morning

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March 21, 2018 at 4:08 p.m. EDT

Early Wednesday morning brought the first good news the parents of over a 100 girls in the town of Dapchi, Nigeria have heard in over a month.

Many of their daughters were returned by the extremist Islamist faction that kidnapped them from their school on Feb. 19. The BBC reports that five of the girls have died during their imprisonment, and one remains captive by the organization for refusing to renounce her Christian beliefs.

An aide to the Nigerian president said that 101 girls were returned Wednesday morning.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal explained this latest large scale kidnapping could be the start of a trend from a new organization.

This is no longer Boko Haram, the extremist Islamist group that abducted over 250 girls in 2014, but a new, similarly dangerous faction of Islamist militants. Now, the group is potentially emboldened to kidnap more groups of people for potential resources.

The BBC said these militants dropped the girls off Wednesday morning with a warning to not attend school or there would further punishment. Their concerned parents told reporters that they looked tired and hungry. The Wall Street Journal said the 110 girls kidnapped in the recent attack were attending the Dapchi Girls Science and Technology College. The youngest victim was 10 years old.

While a relief for the town of Dapchi, yet another 100 girls from the town of Chibok remain under Boko Haram’s control. Nigeria’s current president, Muhammadu Buhari, seems to trying to distance himself from the perceived blunders of his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, who was unable to secure the safe return of the Chibok schoolgirls.

They’re still out there, waiting to be rescued for almost four years.