Nigerian officials: Boko Haram releases dozens of Chibok schoolgirls

Eighty-two Chibok schoolgirls abducted three years ago by Boko Haram have been freed in exchange for detained suspects with the extremist group. The statement from the office of President Muhammadu Buhari was the first confirmation that his government had made a swap for the girls. After an initial release of 21 Chibok girls in October, the government denied making an exchange or paying ransom. The April 2014 abduction by Boko Haram brought the extremist group’s rampage in northern Nigeria to world attention, many of the captive girls, most of them Christians, were forced to marry their captors,It is feared that other girls were strapped with explosives and sent on missions as suicide bombers.Now 113 of the girls remain captive.The freed girls were expected to meet with Buhari on Sunday in the capital, Abuja.