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		</div><p>A group of Nigerian parents have been reunited with 21 schoolgirls freed after being kidnapped by Boko Haram two and a half years ago.</p>
<p>The move is the first negotiated release organised between the Nigerian government and the Islamic extremist group.</p>
<p>The girls were embraced by their parents amid scenes of jubilation when they were presented by the government.</p>
<p>One of the kidnapped girls celebrates with family members during an church survives held in Abuja, Nigeria, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016.</p>
<p>A mother of one of the girls said: &#8220;I never expected I will see my daughter again and I pray that those girls still left behind, that God will bring them out safely the way our own daughter came out alive.&#8221;</p>
<p>The girls were released on Thursday and flown to Abuja, Nigeria&#8217;s capital, but it has taken days for the parents to arrive.</p>
<p>Most arrived on Sunday after driving hours over potholed roads slowed by military checkpoints and under threat of attack by the insurgents, community leader Tsambido Hosea Abana said.</p>
<p>The parents came from the remote north-eastern town of Chibok, where nearly 300 girls were kidnapped on April 2014 in a mass abduction that shocked the world.</p>
<p>Family members celebrate after being reunited with the kidnapped girls during an church service held in Abuja, Nigeria.</p>
<p>Dozens of schoolgirls escaped in the first few hours, but after last week&#8217;s release, 197 still remain captive.</p>
<p>The government said negotiations are continuing to win the remaining girls&#8217; freedom.</p>
<p>Muta Abana, the father of one of the released girls, has been living in Nasarawa state near Abuja.</p>
<p>He expressed anxiety as many of the girls were reportedly forced to marry Boko Haram fighters.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some of them came back with babies, but think about it: are we going to kill the children?&#8221; Mr Abana said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t be able to kill the children because it would be as if we don&#8217;t want the girls to come back. God knows why it happened. It&#8217;s God&#8217;s will.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of the kidnapped girls celebrates with a family member during an church survives held in Abuja, Nigeria.</p>
<p>He also said the girls&#8217; abduction has been politicised, complaining that &#8220;people&#8217;s children aren&#8217;t money, people&#8217;s children are not clothes you wear to campaign, people&#8217;s children are their pride&#8221;.</p>
<p>The girls are getting medical attention and trauma counselling in a hospital, said Tsambido Abana, the Chibok community leader in Abuja. Some are emaciated from hunger, he said.</p>
<p>There are conflicting reports about how the girls were freed, with two military officers saying they were exchanged for four detained Boko Haram commanders.</p>
<p>A Nigerian who negotiated previous failed attempts said a large ransom was paid by the Swiss government on behalf of Nigerian authorities.</p>
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