Chibok schoolgirls

Boko Haram releases many of the schoolgirls it kidnapped 3 years ago

The source, who is not authorized to speak on the record about the release, told CNN the freed girls are in military custody in Banki, a town in northeast Nigeria.

They will be transferred to the capital, Abuja, where they will have medical checks and be reunited with their families.

They are believed to be among the 276 girls, ages 16 to 18, forced from their beds by Boko Haram militants in the middle of the night in April 2014. The kidnapping from a boarding school in the town of Chibok sparked global outrage and the social media movement #BringBackOurGirls.