Former Boko Haram commander says he led abduction of Chibok girls

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A former member of Boko Haram has surrendered and spoken out about his involvement in the abduction of Chibok girls in an interview with PRNigeria.

Auwal Ismaeela told the website that he and another commander with the extremist group “led other squads to abduct the Chibok girls.”

Boko Haram abducted more than 200 girls in Chibok, Nigeria, in April 2014 -- and though some of the girls have been released through talks with the government, approximately half continue to be held, the Premium Times reported.

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Ismaeela also said that he’d been part of an “operation in 2014 where we killed some students and youths at the Central Secondary School in Sabon Garin Madagali.”

“It is unfortunate that I was brainwashed and misled not only on some abductions, but in the killings of my own people that were innocent,” he said. “I wholeheartedly regret my actions.”

Ismaeela is working with authorities, saying in the interview, “I will continue to cooperate with the security agencies in providing useful information on our mode of operations and to disclose top-secret hideouts of our commanders.”