The 24 schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State have regained their freedom, reliable sources confirmed on Tuesday.

Multiple officials close to the Kebbi Government House confirmed that the girls were rescued earlier today and are currently being transported to the Government House in Birnin Kebbi, where they are expected to undergo medical checks and debriefing.

“The girls have been freed. They are on their way to the State House,” one senior official said.

Although details of the rescue operation remain sketchy, security sources indicated that the breakthrough followed intensified joint operations involving the military, police, local vigilantes and intelligence units deployed across the forest corridors.

The girls were abducted last week when armed assailants raided their boarding school in Maga in the early hours of the morning.

Their abduction occurred few days before more than 300 children and teachers were kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, sparking national outrage and renewed global concern over school safety in northern Nigeria.

The two incidents revived painful memories of earlier mass abductions in Chibok, Dapchi, Kankara, Jangebe and Yauri attacks that have made Nigerian schools, especially girls’ schools, repeated targets for armed groups seeking ransom, leverage and fear.

President Bola Tinubu had on Tuesday ordered an expanded security cordon and round-the-clock aerial surveillance across Kebbi, Niger and Kwara States, directing the Air Force to sweep deep forest hideouts believed to house several kidnap gangs.

The rescue of the Kebbi schoolgirls marks the first major breakthrough since those directives.

The Kebbi State Government is yet to issue an official statement, but an announcement is expected once the girls arrive safely in Birnin Kebbi.