Activists say Amina Ali was discovered by a vigilante group near the border with Cameroon, making her the first of the schoolgirls to be returned to her family.
It was breaking news on Nigerian state television: more than two years after the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok came this astonishing discovery.
"Members of the civilian Joint Task Force operating in Damboa local government area of Borno State have rescued one of the kidnapped Chibok school girls."
"The girl, identified as Amina Ali, was found with a child with other women in Sambisa."
A picture of the now-19 year-old Amina Ali Nkeki was later released showing her holding a four month-old baby.
She was reportedly discovered with a suspected member of Boko Haram, the militant group that carried out the mass abduction.
The Nigerian military has named the man as Mohammed Hayatu and says he claims to be Amina's husband.
He's since been arrested, as Amina and her baby received medical treatment.
Aboku Gaji, the leader of the Joint Task Force that found Amina, has told the BBC what happened when she returned home.
"The moment this girl was discovered by our vigilantes, she was brought to my house. I instantly recognised her and insisted she should be taken to her parents. Her father is deceased but her mother is still alive. On seeing her, the mother and other relatives rushed to hug her and started shedding tears. Afterwards we had to make her understand that the girl would not be left in their care. She must be handed over to the authorities."
The kidnappings in April 2014 sparked a wave of international outrage, propelled by the Twitter hashtag "Bring Back Our Girls".
Campaign organiser Olatunji Olarewanju says Amina has been speaking to the Nigerian army, revealing snippets of new information about her friends being held captive by Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest.
"Early information from her was that the rest of the girls are alive and well. She also said unfortunately that about six of the girls may have died over the course of the 765 days. I expect that she will be traumatised. She will need a lot of quick rehabilitation and support and so we believe that the military will do the needful in taking care of her."
During the 2014 attack, Boko Haram militants loaded 276 girls onto trucks.
Some managed to escape within hours but a total of 219 girls remained missing before this latest news.
Nkeki Mutah is the uncle of two girls who were kidnapped.
He says Amina's rescue has given him and other families much-needed hope.
"You can imagine since this abduction, we have been here every day. Every day I come here because of the hope, and now our hope been rekindled because of the rescue of this very one that I got the news today."
One of the biggest criticisms of Nigeria's previous government was its failure to locate the girls.
The rescue is expected to boost approval for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who made crushing Boko Haram a central pillar of his campaign.
Yakibu Nkeki, whose daughter was also among those kidnapped, lives next door to Amina's family.
He told the BBC the difference between Nigeria's previous and current administrations is staggering.
"Yes, the criticism is that the outgoing government was telling us the girls would be freed. But up to the time it handed over to the new government, nothing had been done. But the present government is trying its best because of the situation of the insurgents in the area. Before we were sleeping in the bush and hiding ourselves in caves, but the problem of Boko Haram is almost coming to an end. We are able to sleep in our houses and go to our farms. Before it wasn't like that. Even when the parents of the missing girls went to see the former President in his villa, security men would not allow us to see him. But we find it very easy to meet with the current president. Even yesterday we discussed it with the wife of the president in their residence in Abuja. I really appreciate the effort of the present goverment on this issue."
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