Halima Ali Maiyanga, one of more than 100 young women still missing, called her father to say she and others managed to escape Boko Haram militants on Thursday.
“She asked me. Is this my father? This is my father and he started crying. [so] a lot and I couldn’t hear her very well. I was crying too. I never expected to hear from her again, “said Ali Maiyanga.
“The whole family is so happy. Our house is full of people rejoicing with us.”
Ali Maiyanga said he did not have the opportunity to speak to his daughter properly because she was emotional and the call was short. But he said she and others are safe and cared for by the Nigerian army.
He added that she was calling from a telephone line belonging to a security officer.
CNN contacted the Nigerian military for official confirmation.
It is still unclear how many of the missing girls managed to escape.
In 2014, militants stormed a boarding school in the Nigerian village of Chibok and abducted 276 girls – an incident that gained widespread attention and launched an international campaign calling for their release with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Dozens of girls escaped almost immediately after the mass abduction. Another girl was found in May 2016, when she got lost in a Nigerian forest asking for help, according to witnesses.
Since then, nothing has been heard about the 112 young women who remained in custody.
This is a developing story, more to follow …