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Twenty-one of the schoolgirls kidnapped in 2014 by Boko Haram in Chibok, Nigeria, have been freed, the president’s spokesman has confirmed.

Garba Shehu said the release was “the outcome of negotiations between the administration and Islamist militants”.

The freed students are currently with the security forces.

Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 students from a school in Chibok, north-east Nigeria – an act that provoked international condemnation.

It also sparked one of the biggest global social media campaigns, with tweeters using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

Up to now there had only been one confirmed release of a student kidnapped from Chibok.

In May, a 19-year-old woman was found by an army-backed vigilante group.

After that it was believed that 218 students were still missing. More than 50 managed to escape on the day they were captured.

Boko Haram has also kidnapped thousands of other people during its seven-year insurgency in north-east Nigeria.