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Relief in Nigeria: Several days after their abduction, 279 school girls are free again.

The governor of the Nigerian state of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, announced this on Tuesday.

Armed men kidnapped the girls in Jangebe city on Friday.

Matawalle tweeted that morning that the girls were now released.

"All of our daughters are now safe," it said literally.

When trying to save her, there were several hurdles.

That they were released from captivity pleased his heart.

Reuters reporters saw dozens of girls in the Zamfara government building.

It is also unclear how many girls have disappeared and how many are now free again - earlier reports had always mentioned 317 kidnapped schoolgirls.

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A state spokesman told the news agency that some of the initially missing had fled at the time of the attack.

Terror of Boko Haram, and profane kidnapping

At the time of the kidnapping, a resident told the AP news agency that the gunmen had also attacked a military camp nearby, which is why soldiers did not react to the mass kidnapping.

Since then, the police and the military have tried to save the girls.

Her kidnapping had caused a stir internationally.

Nigeria has seen several such attacks and kidnappings in recent years.

In December, for example, more than 300 schoolboys in Kankara were kidnapped and later released.

The government said no ransom was paid.

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Probably the most famous case occurred in 2014 when the terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls in Chibok, Borno state.

More than 100 of these girls are still missing today.

Government does not want to be blackmailed

Other armed groups - locally called simply bandits - often kidnap schoolchildren with demands for ransom.

According to the government, there are large groups of armed men in Zamfara who are known to abduct people for money or to free their members from prison.

According to experts, these kidnappings could continue if they do not result in penalties.

Guarded by soldiers: some of the released girls

Source: AFP

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari ruled out giving ransom money to criminals last week - the government will not give in to this blackmail.

Instead, he called on the governments in the individual states to rethink their previous tactics of paying the bandits in the form of money or cars.

Such a policy could backfire.