Boko Haram released 27 captives Saturday in Cameroon, according to the government, and 10 of those were Chinese workers, BBC reported.

The freed captives were flown back to the capital, Yaounde, including the wife of Cameroon's Vice-Prime Ministe Amadou Ali -- all of whom had been held for months by the militants.

The 27 were captured outside Boko Haram's target zone in Nigeria, in two separate raids in May and July.

Though the militants seek to declare an Islamic state in Nigeria, some in the area bordering Cameroon have fled to that country as militant attacks have increased in recent months.

In July, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to create a cooperative 2,800-strong regional force to fight Boko Haram, and Cameroon has reinforced its troops in the norther regions where the captives were taken from.

The freed captives were taken to a hospital in Yaounde because they were in poor physical condition.

"You can imagine that after the ordeal they are very happy to be released and very relieved," said Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon's Minister of Communications.

"Ten Chinese, the wife of the Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali, the Lamido (a local religious leader) of Kolofata, and the members of their families kidnapped with them are safe," Cameroon President Paul Biya said.

But questions have been raised around the release of these 27 individuals, and whether or not a ransom was paid is unknown.

The release of these captives brings the focus back to the lack of action and the unknown whereabouts of the 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped in the area of Chibok in Nigeria in March.

One of them, a 20-year-old woman, was released in late September after telling authorities she was dropped off at an unknown location by suspected militants, Reuters reported.

Eleven parents of those who were kidnapped died soon after the incident.

Nigeria's president, Goodluck Jonathan, has been under fire in Nigeria and abroad for being unable to bring the girls back safely.