The Boko Haram baby: Pictured cradling kidnapper's infant, the first of 219 schoolgirls grabbed by Muslim extremists in Nigeria two years ago

This is the first picture to emerge of both Amina Ali, 19, and her four-month-old baby after they were found yesterday more than two years after being abducted by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria

Cradling her four-month-old baby lovingly in her arms, this is the first picture to emerge of both Amina Ali and her child after they were found more than two years after being abducted by Boko Haram.

The 19-year-old is seen holding the child she gave birth to in captivity after being reunited with her family at a military base in Damboa, Nigeria, following her abduction by the extremist group in 2014.

Amina was discovered yesterday in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno state by civilian vigilantes assisting the military and brought back to her home town of Mbalala, near Chibok.

Her discovery raises hopes for the release of 218 others still being held by Boko Haram, following the mass abduction from a boarding school in northeastern Nigeria more than two years ago.

Her discovery may provide information as to the whereabouts of the other teenagers, although Amina told her mother and family doctor that some of the Chibok girls have died in captivity.

Speaking after she was found, Ayuba Alamson Chibok, a community leader in Chibok, said: 'She met her parents, who recognised their daughter before she was taken to the military base in Damboa.

'Her father's name is Ali and the girl's name is Amina. I know the family very well because I have worked with them, being a spokesman for the families of the Chibok girls.'

Yakubu Nkeki, head of the Abducted Chibok Girls Parents' group, also confirmed her name and said she was 17 when she was abducted.

He added: 'She's the daughter of my neighbour... They brought her to my house.'

Tsambido Hosea Abana, a Chibok community leader in the capital, Abuja, from the BringBackOurGirls pressure group, also gave an identical account.

All three men said the teenager appeared to have given birth while in captivity while Abana said she had told family there were other kidnapped girls in the forest, but 'six were already dead.'

The Sambisa Forest has long been known to contain Boko Haram camps. Other abducted women rescued from the former game reserve over the last year have reported seeing some of the Chibok girls.

Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman confirmed the girl's rescue, although he gave a different name - Falmata Mbalala - and said she was found by troops in Baale, near Damboa.

Manaseh Allan, a Chibok youth leader, said it was not uncommon for children in the town to use different names at home and at school.

The leader of the BringBackOurGirls group in Abuja, former education minister Oby Ezekwesili, tweeted: 'It is OFFICIAL. OUR #ChibokGirlAminaAli of Mbalala village is BACK!!!!!!!

'#218ShallBeBack because #HopeEndures... Thanks #CivilianJTF and @HQNigerianArmy.'

Rescued: Amina Ali (left), then 17, has been found two years after she and 218 others were kidnapped. Right: This picture, released by the Nigerian army, shows suspected Boko Haram member Mohammed Hayatu, who claimed to be the husband of Amina Ali

The group has mounted daily vigils in the capital since the abduction calling for the release of the schoolgirls and hundreds of other hostages.

Boko Haram seized 276 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the night of April 14, 2014. Fifty-seven managed to escape in the immediate aftermath.

The abduction sparked outrage worldwide and brought global attention to the Boko Haram insurgency, which has killed at least 20,000 people and made more than 2.6 million homeless since 2009.

Nothing had been heard from the 219 still held captive since a video published by the Islamists in May 2014, until an apparent 'proof of life' message was sent to the Nigerian government earlier this year.

Fifteen of the girls, wearing black hijabs, were seen in the video, which was purportedly shot on December 25, Christmas Day, last year.

But despite the identities of the girls being confirmed by mothers and a classmate, the government said it was cautious about raising hopes of their release.

There have been previous claims of talks with Boko Haram, whose leader Abubakar Shekau has said he would release the hostages if Islamist fighters held in Nigerian custody were released.

But the talks appear to have been with factions of the group, without the approval of the high command.

The video gave weight to theories the girls were split up after the abduction and were being held in separate locations, complicating any possible talks or a rescue bid.

The girls were taken as Boko Haram captured swathes of territory in northeastern states in 2014. But the insurgents have been pushed out by a military fight-back in the last 15 months. 

Images of the terrified captives shocked the world when the girls were abducted in April 2014

A total of 276 girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram militants, fifty-seven escaped in the immediate aftermath

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, who has said Boko Haram is 'technically' defeated, has said success in the campaign would be measured on the return of the Chibok girls and other abductees.

The Rev. Enoch Mark, whose two daughters are among the missing, said the latest news brought renewed hope to the parents of the Chibok girls.

'I believe that, by the grace of God, our daughters, some of them, will be found if they are still alive,' he said.

The inability of Nigeria's government and military to rescue the girls led, in part, to last year's electoral defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan, who was seen as uncaring and not committed to freeing them.

The U.S., France and Britain offered help to find the girls, sending in drones, hostage negotiators, intelligence officers and others.

A social media campaign using the hashtag (hash)BringBackOurGirls reached to the White House, where first lady Michelle Obama promised her husband would do all in his power to help. 'Our prayers are with the missing Nigerian girls and their families. It's time to (hash)BringBackOurGirls,' she tweeted in May 2014.

 

R. Evon Idahosa, executive director of PathFinders Justice Initiative, which works on behalf of victims of child abuse, sex trafficking and rape, said the West has not done enough to help the Chibok girls.

Idahosa noted the response after the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, when government leaders marched 'in solidarity, arm-in-arm over the death of 17 people. Not to say that that is any less important than the lives of these girls, but the reality is that one Western life definitely has a different value from the value of a girl in Nigeria.'

Returning to ordinary life could be difficult for the victims, according to experts.

'Children in this situation typically require medical assistance and psycho-social support to help them cope with what they have been through while they were in captivity,' said UNICEF spokeswoman Helene Sandbu Ryeng.

'Our experience with children and women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram and freed by the military or escaped shows that they often face mistrust, stigma and rejection when they return to their communities,' she said.