Africa

82 freed Chibok schoolgirls to meet with Nigerian president

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Chibok school girls recently freed from Boko Haram captivity are seen in Abuja, Nigeria, Sunday, May 7, 2017. The 82 freed Chibok schoolgirls arrived in Nigeria's capital on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari as anxious families awaited an official list of names and looked forward to reuniting three years after the mass abduction. (AP Photo/ Olamikan Gbemiga) (The Associated Press)

Chibok school girls recently freed from Boko Haram captivity are seen in Abuja, Nigeria, Sunday, May 7, 2017. The 82 freed Chibok schoolgirls arrived in Nigeria's capital on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari as anxious families awaited an official list of names and looked forward to reuniting three years after the mass abduction. (AP Photo/ Olamikan Gbemiga) (The Associated Press)

Chibok school girls recently freed from Boko Haram captivity are seen in Abuja, Nigeria, Sunday, May 7, 2017. The 82 freed Chibok schoolgirls arrived in Nigeria's capital on Sunday to meet President Muhammadu Buhari as anxious families awaited an official list of names and looked forward to reuniting three years after the mass abduction. (AP Photo/ Olamikan Gbemiga) (The Associated Press)

Nigeria's president says that he will meet Sunday with 82 Chibok schoolgirls freed this weekend after being kidnapped three years ago by Boko Haram.

President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement that he will receive the released schoolgirls in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

The president said the schoolgirls were freed in exchange for detained suspected extremists in the largest negotiated release of the nearly 300 girls whose mass abduction in 2014 highlighted the threat of Nigeria's homegrown extremist fighters linked to the Islamic State group.

Before Saturday's release, 195 of the girls had been captive. Now 113 of the girls remain unaccounted for.

As news of the latest release broke, long-suffering family members said they are eagerly awaiting a list of names and their hopes and expectations are high.