82 of the Chibok schoolgirls were on Sunday released, thanks to a prisoner swap between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram. The release is the biggest since the armed group stormed a school in northern Nigeria in April 2014, kidnapping 276 girls.
Although the girls have been freed from their captors, their ordeal is not over as according to Peter Joseph, an Uncle of one of the 21 schoolgirls released by Boko Haram in October 2016.
More than six months later, his niece, Sarah, is still in a government rehabilitation camp where the girls rarely see their families.
“We were very happy to learn of the news that she was released,” he said. “But we are not very much impressed with the way the government is handling the whole rehabilitation process.”
Since her release, he’s only seen his niece once, when he traveled to Chibok last December. Even then, he says there were set time limits on visits, and many topics – like her experience as a prisoner - were off limits. He calls her often, but says she is only allowed to talk for two-three minutes before being cut off. He says his niece has told him that “only females can sneak in to see them sometimes but males are not allowed into the compound.”
“Nobody is allowed to see them,” he says. “So it’s like another imprisonment, but this one has to do with the government.”
Peter spoke during a programme on Al Jazeera title the stream. Peter’s sister Elizabeth is still being held by Boko Haram.
During the programme, the dangers of isolation; what rehabilitation means in this situation; and whether the ‘Chibok girls’ have become too famous to ever truly be free was discussed.
Watch the video below:
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