Either because of fear of stigmatization or simply inaction due to the rude violation of their personality, some of the missing Chibok girls refused to take freedom and returned home.
Lawyer Zannah Mustapha, 53, who has acted as a mediator between the Nigerian government and the terrorists said some of the girls, rejected the opportunity to return home.
He told Reuters news agency: “Some girls refused to return… I have never talked to one of the girls about their reasons.” The closest guess is shame from stigmatization. Some of the ones who had earlier been released and resettled at home are being called Boko Haram wives because of their pregnancy.
Meanwhile, parents who are yet to set eyes on any of the 82 girls since they were released and taken to Abuja for official reception are full of expectations that their daughters may be among them. They have said they do not mind the social conditions or new status of the girls as long as they return to their warm embrace after three years of waiting endlessly.
Esther Yakubu told the BBC the last three years had been a “horrible nightmare” but that even the possibility of her daughter having been rescued was giving her hope.
“Whether she is among the freed ones or not, I am very happy,” she said. “We started this year with 24 [returned girls] and now we have 106. It is a large number, and we have hope that, if they are alive, they will come back.
“I have never been happy in my life like today. I am a mother. I accept any child that is back. My baby will be back soon, if she is among them or if she isn’t.”
If the expectant parents knew that none of the 21 girls who were released in October have come home since they are still undergoing a military re-integration program, they would hold their breathe.
