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Nearly 300 were taken by terrorists from village of Chibok on April 14
Around 50 had previously managed to flee the hands of Boko Haram
The group aims to set up an Islamic state in Africa's largest economy

Published: 00:26 GMT, 7 July 2014 | Updated: 09:15 GMT, 7 July 2014

Sixty more of the kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls have escaped their captors, it was reported last night.

Nearly 300 were taken from their boarding school dormitory in the north western village of Chibok by Islamic terrorists on April 14.

Around 50 had previously managed to flee, meaning more than 150 are still prisoners.

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Escape: Sixty more of Nigeria's kidnapped schoolgirls (pictured in May) have reportedly fled their captors

Hope of a successful rescue is fading as nearly three months have passed since the kidnapping and negotiations appear to have made little progress.

But last night news agency AFP reported that a local vigilante, Abbas Gava, said he had ‘received an alert from my colleagues . . . that about 63 of the abducted women and girls had made it back home’.

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The escape was confirmed by a security source in Maiduguri, the regional capital, on the condition of anonymity, AFP reported.

Terrorist group Boko Haram, which roughly translates as Western education is forbidden, aims to set up an Islamist state in Africa's largest economy.

Members have killed thousands in bomb and gun attacks in a five-year insurgency, striking as far afield as the central city of Jos and the capital Abuja.

Terror: The girls were paraded in a video which sparked a global campaign, but the government's response was muted, said critics. With three months having passed since the abduction, hopes are fading