Families Celebrate, Reunite With 21 Kidnapped Nigerian ‘Chibok Girls'

The release was the first in what is hoped to be a series of releases over the coming weeks

After being kidnapped by Boko Haram more than two years ago, 21 Nigerian girls were reunited Sunday with their families, NBC News reported.

"I want to thank everyone for this wonderful thing they have done," one of the girls, Rebecca Mallam, told the Voice of America as she rejoined relatives Sunday in Abuja, the capital.

The liberation of the so-called "Chibok girls" — whose abduction triggered the #BringBackOurGirls campaign — came after negotiations between the government and Boko Haram, said Mallam Garba Shehu, a Nigerian government spokesman.

Shehu didn't say what Boko Haram received in return, but the BBC reported that the government handed over four imprisoned militants as part of the deal.

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