The Nigerian military on Tuesday retracted its statement that some of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in April by Islamist militants had been freed.
Army spokesman, Brig-Gen Chris Olukolade, told the BBC they were girls in military custody, but not those from Chibok as originally thought.
More than 200 girls were seized by Boko Haram fighters from the school.
It caused worldwide outrage and sparked a social media campaign.
Protests were organised under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, calling on the Federal Government to do more to free the girls, who had gone to the school in Chibok from surrounding areas to take their final year exams.
Shortly after the abduction, Boko Haram released a video showing more than 100 of them and offering an exchange for prisoners.
In recent days there have been unconfirmed reports that the government has been negotiating a deal with Boko Haram to exchange the abducted girls for imprisoned Islamist fighters.
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