It was a tear- filled ceremony as the 21 freed Chibok girls were reunited with their parents yesterday in Abuja.

The father of Deborah Jafaru ,the only Chibok girl who was released with her son explained how his daughter was taken and how grateful he was.

He said:
“Unlike the others, Deborah had already finished her secondary school; she did not make her papers and returned to rewrite her WASCE when she was taken.
“She just got married two weeks before returning for her papers and they took her, her husband has remarried now. They abducted her with pregnancy and she had my grandchild there but I’m just grateful to God and the government for returning my daughter and grandchild to me safely. Words cannot describe how I feel at the moment.”
Deborah is the only one among the girls who returned with a baby.

Mrs Rifkatu John, carried her daughter Jummai Bakwa, on her back, with her wrapper like a baby.
She refused to leave her daughter throughout the event . She said:
“I never thought that I would see my daughter again in this life time; I prayed so much for her safe return and here she is finally. I just want to give God all the glory and thank the government for bringing her back. I pray that the other Chibok mothers have the opportunity to see their daughters again and experience the joy I feel today,” she said.
Another Chibok girl, Rahab Ibrahim, expressed gratitude to the government for ensuring their release, saying:
“We never knew they would come out, we thought we were going to be there and never come out but here we are today, with our parents, I want to thank the government for making it possible for us to see our parents again today.”

Father of Grace Gaphani said:
”I am grateful to God and Nigerians for not forgetting us, I had lost hope, I never thought that I would see my daughter again but God returned her to me, I am so grateful to God for giving me another chance with my daughter, I am entrusting my daughter in the care of the government, let them take care of her, give her all the education she wants, even if it means taking her to America, I give them the permission to do it. She has always wanted to be educated, now I want the government to help her attain the level of education she wants to attain.”
Chairman of the Chibok parents Association, Yakubu Nkeki said the parents would not be returning home with the girls.
“They have not been handed over to their parents completely because they are still undergoing some trauma counselling, we are not taking them back home with us, they are going to remain with the government, to ensure their welfare and health before they are handed to us.
”We pleading with the government to find a reasonable school for them, we want them to continue with their education.”

The Nation