Boko Haram May Release Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirls

Remember them? There was a hashtag campaign and everything.

More than 200 missing schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram may be released as part of an immediate cease-fire agreement announced Friday with the Nigerian government, according to multiple media reports.

Nigerian presidential aide Hassan Tukur told BBC Focus on Africa that the cease-fire agreement came after months of negotiations mediated by Chad.

The girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram — the group's nickname means "education is sinful" — on April 15 while in school in the northeastern town of Chibok.