The United Nations (UN) has noted that Boko Haram fighters have stepped up the use of women and girls for suicide bombings.

Noting a progress in the war against the jihadist by the four countries of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, the UN said while children were deployed in 135 such attacks in 2017 – a five-fold increase over the previous year.

Therefore, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Amina Mohammed, said it was critical to shore up areas of Lake Chad Basin that have been freed from the grip of Boko Haram terrorists.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has asked the federal government to return to the negotiation table in order to secure the release of the only Christian among the 110 abducted Dapchi schoolgirls.

On Wednesday, 104 of the girls were returned to Dapchi by some Boko Haram members.

While five of the girls were said to have died in captivity, Liya Sharibu, the only Christian among them, was detained for allegedly refusing to convert to Islam or wear the hijab.

Abubakar Mohammed, a resident of Dapchi, headquarters of Busari local government in Yobe state, says soldiers at a checkpoint in the town fled when Boko Haram fighters returned the kidnapped schoolgirls on Wednesday morning.

The students of Government Secondary Science and Technical College, Dapchi were abducted on February 19.

The insurgents are said to have returned the girls in the same vehicles which they used in conveying to the town earlier in the day.

Amnesty International (AI) has tasked the Federal Government to investigate alleged security failures leading to the abduction of the now released school girls from Dapchi in Yobe State.

On Wednesday, 105 girls out of 110 as well as a boy were released. Another five are said to have died according to one of the freed girls, from “heart attack, trauma and stress.” One is still missing, reportedly held for insisting on her faith.

Osai Ojigho, AI director in Nigeria, described the release of the girls as a huge relief for their families.

The Federal Government said the number of Dapchi schoolgirls released on Wednesday has increased from 76 to 101, following the documentation of more of the freed girls by security agencies.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who gave the update in a statement issued in Abuja, said that the number could still increase as the documentation of the freed girls was ongoing.

Mohammed had in an earlier statement confirmed the release of 76 and later, 91 of the 110 abducted students of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe on Feb. 19.

The Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has asked the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on drug and substance abuse in the country.

Governor Ahmed said that the right steps must be taken by the government at all levels towards curbing the menace of drug abuse which is spreading in the society.

He made this known during a courtesy visit by the National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Ahmed Yakassi, on Tuesday at the Government House in Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital.