ABUJA: Nigeria was seeking to identify on Wednesday nearly 300 women and girls rescued from Boko Haram, raising hopes they might include schoolgirls seized in a high-profile kidnapping last year.

The army appeared to rule out any of the 200 girls being from the northeastern town of Chibok, who were snatched from their dormitories on April 14, prompting global outrage.

Also read: Boko Haram has kidnapped 2000 women in a year: Amnesty

But Nigeria’s defence ministry spokesman urged caution, saying it was too early to tell and all those released from camps in the militants’ Sambisa Forest stronghold were still being screened.

Details of the rescue came as Nigerian troops fought to flush out Boko Haram from its last remaining territory after a four-nation offensive against the group in the restive northeast.

Chibok elders reacted angrily to the latest announcement, which comes after the military previously said some of the girls had been released, only to backtrack, and that it knew where they were.

“It is disheartening for our hopes to be dashed,” said Enoch Mark, whose daughter and niece are among the 219 teenagers still being held by the Islamists.

“When we heard of the rescue we thought it was our girls. Parents kept contacting one another, hoping to get confirmation that their daughters were the ones rescued,” he said.

“However it’s not surprising to me that our hopes have been dashed. This has happened several times. The government has lied a few times. To us, the government no longer has credibility.”

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2015

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