Soldiers from the Nigerian army have freed 54 prisoners from the clutches of the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
According to the spokesperson for the army, “the prisoners were released during an anti-terror operation in the villages of Ma’allasuwa and Yaga-Munye, in the northeastern state of Borno,” said Sagir Musa. “The terrorists had already fled the villages before the army arrived.” The prisoners were 29 women and 25 children.
The terrorist group poses a permanent threat to communities in northeastern Nigeria and is also active in neighboring countries Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. In the region, tens of thousands of people have been killed by the organization since 2009, an estimated 2.5 million people have fled their homes.
Boko Haram regularly abducts women and children to recruit as warriors or to sexually abuse them.
