104 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls freed by Boko Haram

ABUJA, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A total of 104 schoolgirls abducted from a college in Nigeria's northeastern town of Dapchi last month by the terror group Boko Haram were freed on Wednesday, a government minister said.

Another girl and a boy were also freed along with the 104 schoolgirls, said Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture of Nigeria.

Mohammed said all the 106 persons "were freed unconditionally" and neither ransom was paid nor detained Boko Haram fighter was freed in exchange for the girls.

The freed abductees have been formally handed over to the Nigerian government by the military, the minister confirmed. The handover was done in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

The 104 schoolgirls and the two others who regained freedom early Wednesday were immediately airlifted to the Nigerian capital city of Abuja through a military transport plane.

A total of 110 schoolgirls were abducted from the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, located 100 kilometers from Damaturu, the capital of the northern state of Yobe on Feb. 19.

Boko Haram is a Jihadist militant organization based in northeastern Nigeria. The United Nations believes Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 innocent people since 2009 through terror attacks. Enditem