Confounding ... supporters call for the return of the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram outside the Nigerian embassy in Lonon on May 17. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

While dozens of girls managed to escape from the Islamic extremist terrorist group Boko Haram, 219 remain missing.

Nigeria’s military chief announced in October that Boko Haram had agreed to an immediate ceasefire to end a five-year insurgency that had killed thousands and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes in northeast Nigeria. This raised hopes that the girls would be released.

But the leader of Boko Haram denied agreeing to a ceasefire and claimed the missing schoolgirls had all converted to Islam and been married off.

Bring yourself up to date with this and other big world stories of 2014 with the Story Machine. Click below.