Africa highlights: Joy after Chibok girl rescued, Tanzania jihadi video

Now, for something completely different... Royalty is an important part of life in Ghana. Chieftains have a lot of influence and are the holders of ancestral land rights and privileges.

It’s customary for everyone to pay respects to the chiefs but are they likely to be replaced in the modern digital age?

Satirist Ikenna Azuike has been finding out for the BBC's What's Up Africa:

The hashtag #ChibokgirlAminaAli has been trending in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, today:

It's after the news that one of the girls abducted by Boko Haram from Chibok Secondary School has been found.

The abduction over two years ago attracted international attention, with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls becoming popular.

One of the main criticisms of the #BringBackOurGirls movement was that it was an example of 'clicktivism', online work for a cause that does not actually change anything but allows people to feel they have done something they believe in.

And this is reflected in tweets today:

But most of the comments online focused on the hope that other abducted women and girls would also be freed.

Read more on the BBC News website: From #BringBackOurGirls to #HopeEndures.

Here are more details of the emotion which swept through the home of the freed Chibok girl when she was taken there by vigilante leader Aboku Gaji: 

Quote Message: When we arrived at the house, the door was closed, I asked the mother to come and identify someone, the moment she saw her, she shouted her name Amina, Amina!

When we arrived at the house, the door was closed, I asked the mother to come and identify someone, the moment she saw her, she shouted her name Amina, Amina!

Quote Message: She gave her the biggest hug ever, as if they were going to roll on the ground, we had to stabilise them.

She gave her the biggest hug ever, as if they were going to roll on the ground, we had to stabilise them.

Quote Message: The mother called other relatives to come out and see what was happening.

The mother called other relatives to come out and see what was happening.

Quote Message: The girl started comforting the mother, saying, 'Please mum, take it easy, relax, I never thought I would ever see you again, wipe your tears. God has made it possible for us to see each other again'. That’s what this girl, Amina kept telling her mother."

The girl started comforting the mother, saying, 'Please mum, take it easy, relax, I never thought I would ever see you again, wipe your tears. God has made it possible for us to see each other again'. That’s what this girl, Amina kept telling her mother."

The news site Sahara Reporters has published a picture of the woman who escaped after being abducted by Boko Haram.

She is pictured here with a baby she gave birth to while in captivity:

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She was kidnapped over two years ago with over 200 other women and girls. 

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

A Mauritanian anti-slavery activist who was freed from prison last night has told the BBC that he is "more determined than ever before" to fight the practice. 

Biram Ould Dah was arrested during an anti-slavery rally, accused of belonging to an illegal organisation and committing violence.

He was sentenced to two years in prison but a court ruling yesterday reduced it to one year. 

As he has already been in prison for 16 months, he was released immediately. 

He told the BBC he is enraged:

Quote Message: I am angry because this is proof of an unbalanced judiciary, which depends on the temper and the mood of the executive power. The fight will be more vigorous. We are now more committed than before, more determined than before.”

I am angry because this is proof of an unbalanced judiciary, which depends on the temper and the mood of the executive power. The fight will be more vigorous. We are now more committed than before, more determined than before.”

In December, Mr Ould Dah has been awarded the Human rights Tulip Award while in prison.

According to Biram Ould Dah's abolitionist movement, IRA, there are still about 150,000 slaves in Mauritania.     

In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery but the practice didn't stop and the government criminalised slavery in August.

The leader of the vigilante group in north-eastern Nigeria which rescued the Chibok girl has been speaking about her mother's joy when she saw her 19-year-old daughter for the first time since her abduction more than two years ago.

Aboku Gaji told the BBC Hausa Service: 

Quote Message: The moment this girl was discovered by our vigilantes, she was brought to my house. I instantly recognised her and insisted we should take her to her parents.

The moment this girl was discovered by our vigilantes, she was brought to my house. I instantly recognised her and insisted we should take her to her parents.

Quote Message: Her father is deceased, but her mother is still alive. On seeing her, the mother and other relatives rushed to hug her and started shedding tears.

Her father is deceased, but her mother is still alive. On seeing her, the mother and other relatives rushed to hug her and started shedding tears.

Quote Message: Afterwards, we had to make them understand that the girl would not be left in their care. She must be handed over to the authorities."

Afterwards, we had to make them understand that the girl would not be left in their care. She must be handed over to the authorities."

Read: Among the vigilantes fighting Boko Haram

APCopyright: AP

Let's move away from the Chibok story for a while.... Tanzania's Home Affairs minister Charles Kitwanga has told the BBC that the security forces are investigating whether a jihadi group is in the East African state. 

The government is taking the issue very seriously, as it affects national security, he added. 

He was commented after a video emerged, showing five militant Islamists who said they were in Tanzania's coastal region of Tanga. 

See our 10:47 post for more details.

A former Nigerian education minister has been spearheading the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, and she has been sharing her joy with her 475,000 Twitter followers after news broke that one of the girls has been rescued: 

#BringBackOurGirls campaigners have been giving different names of the 19-year-old Chibok girl who they say was rescued last night by vigilantes fighting militant Islamist group Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria. 

Chibok town Manaseh Allan has given a possible explanation for this to AFP news agency:

Quote Message: She was brought first to Chibok by the vigilantes who took her to the vice-principal of her school, who immediately identified her as Aisha Ali, which is her name in the school register.

She was brought first to Chibok by the vigilantes who took her to the vice-principal of her school, who immediately identified her as Aisha Ali, which is her name in the school register.

Quote Message: She was presented to community leaders as Amina Ali but her name as it appears in the school register is Aisha Ali.

She was presented to community leaders as Amina Ali but her name as it appears in the school register is Aisha Ali.

Quote Message: It is common for children in Chibok to be called with one name in school and another at home."

It is common for children in Chibok to be called with one name in school and another at home."

It's still not clear why she is also known as Amina Ali Nkek. Nor is it clear why the military has given a completely different - Falmata Mbalala, though Mbalala is the town from where she comes.

As the first of the 219 Chibok girls seized by Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram is rescued, here is a reminder of some of the facts around the abductions:

• The girls are seen by Boko Haram as "prized assets", and it has been reported that it was prepared to free them in exchange for the release of its members held by the military
• They are known as the Chibok girls because they were kidnapped from the dormitories at Chibok Secondary School 
• Many are from Mbalala, a town about 11km south of Chibok
• The girls at Chibok Secondary School represented the most ambitious young people in their village 
• In a country where less than half of young people finish secondary school, they were the few in their community pushing for an education. And some had to fight for it.

Read more from the families of five of the missing girls on the BBC News website.

BBCCopyright: BBC

APCopyright: AP

We have been reporting all day that the first of the so-called Chibok girls has escaped. 

She's one of 276 women and girls who were abducted more than two years ago in Chibok, Nigeria.   

But why were they abducted in the first place?

One of the girls who got away during the kidnap told the BBC Hausa service that the Boko Haram militants had said:  

"You're only coming to school for prostitution. Boko (Western education) is haram (forbidden) so what are you doing in school?"  

Here's more about Boko Haram:

• Founded in 2002
• Official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad"
• Initially focused on opposing Western education
• Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state

Read more about Boko Haram on the BBC News website. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Here are some key facts on the missing 216 girls abducted by militant Islamist group Boko Haram from the north-eastern town of Chibok: 

• On 14 April 2014, the militants raid a boarding school in the town, kidnapping 276  girls, mostly aged between 16 and 18
• About 50 of the girls escape but 219 are taken away 
• Nigeria's government and military are strongly criticised over their failure to protect communities affected by the Boko Haram insurgency launched in 2009
• A campaign is launched on Twitter under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls to demand the release of the girls
• The hashtag is used around 3.3 million times by mid-May 2014 
• US first lady Michelle Obama and Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai are among prominent personalities who join the campaign
• Foreign powers, including China and the US, pledge to help find the girls
• In May 2014, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says in a video that some of the girls have been sold, and married off
• On 18 May 2016, activists say vigilantes fighting the militants find one of the girls in their Sambisa forest hideout
• Activists say the girl is breast-feeding a baby, but there is no confirmation of this. 

Read: Five facts about #BringBackOurGirls

In the previous post we reported that the army said soldiers freed the abducted Chibok girl Falmata Mbalala.

However, activists and community leaders have said that the freed Chibok girl is actually called Amina Ali Nkek, and  taht she was found in Sambisa forest by vigilantes.

The forest is the main hideout of militant Islamist group Boko Haram. 

The chairman of the Chibok Parents Association in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, suggested that the vigilantes were lucky to find her. 

Hosea Abana Tsambido told BBC Focus on Africa:  

Quote Message: She was saying she came out to fetch firewood. That's why the vigilantes were able to intercept her.

She was saying she came out to fetch firewood. That's why the vigilantes were able to intercept her.

Quote Message: She was saying the Nigerian army cannot penetrate [the forest] to get them because they are well secured in the Sambisa forest, and that all the Chibok girls are still there in the Sambisa, except six of them that have already died.

She was saying the Nigerian army cannot penetrate [the forest] to get them because they are well secured in the Sambisa forest, and that all the Chibok girls are still there in the Sambisa, except six of them that have already died.

The Chibok girl Falmata Mbalala was rescued by troops near Damboa town in north-eastern Nigeria, said army spokesman Col Sani Kukasheka Usman. 

APCopyright: AP

In the past, there have been false reports that girls abducted from Chibok by militant Islamists have been found.

But this time there is no doubt that one of the girls has been rescued, says Hosea Abana Tsambido, the chairman of the Chibok Parents Association. 

He told BBC Focus on Africa that the girl, Amina Ali Nkek, had been identified by her family, and other people who knew her. 

Mr Tsambido added:  

Quote Message: "I am absolutely certain because in the past the news was coming from different angles, it wasn't coming from our area.

"I am absolutely certain because in the past the news was coming from different angles, it wasn't coming from our area.

Quote Message: This time it's coming directly from our people who are affected and they would never lie."

This time it's coming directly from our people who are affected and they would never lie."

The Chibok girl freed from Boko Haram captivity after more than two years has been briefly reunited with her family, community leader  Ayuba Alamson Chibok has told AFP news agency.

Soldiers brought Amina Ali Nkek to Mbalala town, near Chibok, and took her away after her family confirmed her identity, he said. 

She was 17 when abducted. 

Read: What we know about the mssing girls

The chairman of the Chibok Parents Association in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, has given more details on reports that one of the girls abducted by Boko Haram more than two years ago has been found.

Hosea Abana Tsambido told Focus on Africa radio that he had spoken on the phone to vigilantes who found the girl, who he named as Amina Ali, in Sambisa forest in north-eastern Nigeria last night. 

Mr Tsambido added: 

Quote Message: As I called the leader of the vigilantes, I heard in the background people were shouting and jubilation."

As I called the leader of the vigilantes, I heard in the background people were shouting and jubilation."

He said that Amina Ali was found with a baby by vigilantes doing a patrol, and had been handed over to the Nigerian military.  

She was out collecting firewood and her condition was OK, Mr Sambido added.

He said he was hopeful that the other girls abducted in 2014 would be found.