Nigeria officials stop free Chibok girls being home for Xmas
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2016 file photo released by the Nigeria State House, Nigerian government officials welcome some of the freed Chibok school girls at the state House in Abuja, Nigeria. Families and a lawyer said on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, Nigerian officials prevented the freed Chibok girls from spending Christmas at home with their families. The news raises questions about Nigeria's handling of the 21 girls freed in October by negotiation with Boko Haram. (Sunday Aghaeze/Nigeria State House via AP) (The Associated Press)
Families and a lawyer say Nigerian officials prevented kidnapped Chibok girls freed from more than two years of captivity by Boko Haram Islamic extremists from spending Christmas at home with their families.
The news raises questions about Nigeria's handling of the 21 girls freed in October by negotiation with Boko Haram. Nearly 300 were kidnapped from school in northeastern Chibok town in April 2014. Dozens escaped within hours; 219 remain captive.
Those freed have been held for trauma counseling in Abuja, the capital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They demanded to spend Christmas at home. Human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe says they reached Chibok on Christmas Eve but were held at a legislator's house.
Parents say they were taken to see their daughters, who were not allowed to go home or to a church service.