There was some confusion about the claims of the Nigerian Army on Thursday that it had rescued another Chibok secondary school student captured by Boko Haram.
The reports of the rescue of the second Chibok girl whose name was given as Serah Luka, emerged shortly after the first Chibok girl to be found since April 2014, Amina Ali Nkeki met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja.
Doubts about the army’s claim arose when the head of the ‘Abducted Chibok Girls Parents’ group, Yakubu Nkeki, said that unlike the first announcement about Amina, the military had not contacted them beforehand to establish Serah’s identity.
According to him, only two girls with the surname Luka were on the list of abducted girls and none was from Madagali, which has been repeatedly attacked by the rebels.
The military had said the teenager was believed to be a Christian pastor’s daughter but Nkeki said there were only four priests on the list of parents and none was called Luka.
“I can say in my capacity as the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents group that this girl is not among the abducted Chibok girls,” he told AFP.
In response, Nigeria’s military spokesman, Col SK Usman insisted that the army was standing by its claims, saying it was “beyond reasonable doubt” that Serah was among the girls snatched.
Advocacy group, BringBackOurGirls which has been campaigning for the release or rescue of the Chibok girls in its reaction stated that “Every citizen returned is victory for us all.”
On Friday evening, the former education minister and one of the group’s leaders shared some further clarification on her Twitter page about Serah’s identity based on findings of the Chibok community.
