Details of how Boko Haram terrorists drove into Dapchi uninterrupted and dropped some of the kidnapped girls have been revealed.
Dapchi schoolgirls: the schoolgirls abducted return
According to AFP, Boko Haram Islamists who kidnapped more than 100 schoolgirls in Dapchi, northeast Nigeria, just over a month ago returned the students to the town on Wednesday.
Bashir Manzo, who heads a parents' support group in Dapchi confirmed the return of the girls and said: "The girls have been brought back. They were brought in nine vehicles and dropped outside the school at about 8:00 am (0700 GMT).
"I have the list of the missing girls with me, so I am now heading to the school to take a roll call of the returned girls to determine if any of them is still missing."
These girls were not accompanied by any security personnel. Their abductors brought them, dropped them outside the school and left, without talking to anyone.
"We will get to know more details from the girls about their predicament while in captivity.
"Alhaji Deri, whose daughter was among those kidnapped, supported Manzo's account in a separate phone call," adding: "We are here in the school with the girls.
A senior government source in Abuja confirmed the release but said officials were still trying to verify how many girls had been freed.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said last week said the government had "chosen negotiation" to secure the return of the Dapchi girls rather than use military force.
"We are trying to be careful.
It is better to get our daughters back alive," he said.
Yan St-Pierre, a counter-terrorism specialist with the Modern Security Consulting Group in Berlin, said the Dapchi girls' release was not without precedent.
Earlier this year, a number of hostages, including university lecturers, were freed. But he said the latest release was "casual enough to raise a lot of questions, especially about the payment."
"If they did pay, the Nigerian government likely paid a premium to accelerate the release in order to avoid another Chibok," he added.