Plane taking freed Nigerian schoolgirls to capital Abuja: Reuters witness

Major General Rogers Nicholas, Theatre commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, carries one of the newly released Dapchi schoolgirls as others wait for boarding a plane at the air force base in Maiduguri, Nigeria March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A plane carrying scores of Nigerian schoolgirls freed by Islamist Boko Haram militants on Wednesday has taken off from Maiduguri for the capital Abuja, a Reuters witness reported. Information Minister Lai Mohammed, speaking in Maiduguri, said 105 people had been rescued so far, two of whom were not students. He said the government was still negotiating with Boko Haram to release the remaining Chibok schoolgirls, 100 of whom remain unaccounted for. "Not for one moment has there been a break in the negotiations with this armed insurgency," he said. (Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)