Boko Haram extremists have freed three university lecturers and 10 women who it had kidnapped in separate raids last year. Nigeria's government said the academics were abducted by the Nigeria-based Islamic militants while conducting oil prospect evaluations in the Lake Chad area last year. <br/><br/>Some of their colleagues were killed during the 2017 kidnapping. The 10 women were kidnapped in a Boko Haram raid on a military and police convoy last year on the Damboa road near Maiduguri.<br/><br/>Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said their release followed a series of negotiations as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari and was facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. He said all 13 are now in the custody of the Department of State Security Services and are on their way to Abuja, the capital.