Some Schoolgirls Have Escaped Boko Haram, 7 Years After the Launch of the #BringBackOurGirls Campaign

Several Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by the terrorist group Boko Haram seven years ago have escaped captivity, a father of one of the girls told CNN. Halima Ali Maiyanga, one of the girls abducted nearly a decade ago, called her father to say she escaped the militants Thursday, he told CNN.

"She asked me. Is this my daddy? Is this my daddy, and she started crying. The crying was [so] much and I couldn't hear her very well. I was crying too. I never expected to hear from her again," Ali Maiyanga said.

More than 100 women are still missing after being abducted by Boko Haram seven years ago. The campaign #BringBackOurGirls received international attention, including from the likes of then-First Lady Michelle Obama, who pleaded on social media to release the young women.

The girls, known as the “Chibok Girls,” were taken following a raid from the terrorist organization in the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014 and abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls, UPI reported. Some girls managed to escape not long after being abducted, while others were released as part of a deal with the Nigerian government in 2016. Dozens more were freed in a prisoner exchange in 2017, UPI reported.

Ali Maiyanga lost two of his daughters in the abduction. One of his girls escaped four years ago, while Halima Ali Maiyanga escaped this week, Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian human rights lawyer and a member of Chibok Parents Association, told ABC News.

"Mr. Ali Maiyanga's two daughters were part of the few Muslim schoolgirls taken with the majority Christian Chibok girls. Information currently available to us indicates that there are other escapees with the army whom parents are anxiously waiting to identify," Ogebe said in a statement to ABC News. "We spoke and confirmed from Mr. Ali Maiyanga moments ago that he in fact spoke with his daughter today, who informed him that she along with others were rescued. Her sister who escaped four years ago and is on school break was overjoyed at the news of her sibling's escape."

Nigerian authorities however have not confirmed the news of the escaped girls.

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