Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari today told the 21 girls released by Islamist militants last week that he will "redouble" efforts to bring home about 200 still missing after the kidnapping in Chibok in 2014.
"We shall redouble our efforts to bring the rest back home," Buhari said. "Aside from rescuing them, we are assuming the responsibility for their personal, educational and professional goals and ambitions in life. "It is not late for the girls to go back to school and continue the pursuit of their studies."
About 270 girls were seized at their school in the north-eastern Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year insurgency, killing thousands of people and displacing more than 2 million.
The kidnapping prompted outrage worldwide and the girls' plight was publicized with Twitter hashtag #bringbackourgirls.
Boko Haram controlled a swathe of land about the size of Belgium at the start of 2015, but Nigeria's army, aided by troops from neighbouring countries, has recaptured most of it.
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The group still stages suicide bombings in the north-east as well as in Niger and Cameroon.
Earlier this week there was speculation that a further 83 of the girls held by a faction of Boko Haram could be released imminently.
The faction released the 21 girls last Thursday after the Red Cross and the Swiss government brokered a deal. They were brought from the north-eastern city of Maiduguri to the capital Abuja to meet state officials.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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