DAPCHI: The schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram jihadist group in Dapchi were reunited with their families on Sunday after spending nearly five weeks in captivity.

The 105 girls, covered head to toe in burqas, arrived aboard five buses in the town of Dapchi, in Yobe state, where they were greeted by their parents at the boarding school where they were snatched.

After their release on Wednesday they had spent three days in the national capital Abuja where they were greeted by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The girls were among 111 who were seized, of whom five died apparently during the violent hostage-taking or in the trucks that took them away.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2018