The Nigerian military is in the midst of what so far has been a successful campaign to rescue girls kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram. However, shocking news has come out regarding the health status of some of the more than 700 girls. According to military sources at least 200 girls are pregnant by the fighters of Boko Haram.
Executive director Babatunde Oshotimehim of the UN Population Fund Nigeria has stated “Already, many of them are undergoing screening for various diseases, infections, including HIV/AIDS, and about 214 of those already screened were discovered to be at various stages of pregnancies, some visibly pregnant and some just tested pregnant. But we are supporting all of them with various levels of care to stabilize them.”
The vast majority of the girls were kept in makeshift camps in the Nigerian forest by Boko Haram terrorists and have not seen anything other than the forest since they were kidnapped. The Nigerian government is reportedly providing psychological counseling to the freed hostages. Unfortunately, none of the rescued girls were from the infamous school kidnapping in Chibok last year that sparked the social media campaign #BringBackOurGirls. It has been estimated that more than 13,000 people have been killed by Boko Haram fighters in their attempts to create an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.
Note: Pregnant girls are not depicted in the image above.
