The army said it had acted on “credible intelligence” and freed all 344 kidnapped boys. Any Boko Haram involvement in this kidnapping would mark a geographical expansion in the militant group’s activities from its base in the northeast. “They said I should say they are Boko Haram and gangs of Abu Shekau,” he said, referring to a name used by a Boko Haram leader. “Sincerely speaking, they are not Boko Haram ... They are just small and tiny, tiny boys with big guns.”Another of the freed boys told Reuters that the kidnappers had initially taken them to a hiding place.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 19, 2020 08:37 UTC