About 214 women rescued from Islamist Boko Haram militants in north-east Nigeria are pregnant, according to local media citing the Chief of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The Nigerian military said it freed nearly 700 women last week.

“Already, many of them are undergoing screening for various diseases, infections including HIV/AIDS and about 214 of those already screened were discovered to be at various stages of pregnancies, some visibly pregnant and some just tested pregnant; but we are supporting all of them with various levels of care to stabilize them,” said UNFPA Nigeria executive director Babatunde Oshotimehin speaking in Lagos.

“Some of the children that were freed along with the women, it was discovered, were born in the forest and had never been out in the open until their release by the Nigerian Army,” Osotimehin said.

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