The Federal government has said it was
still upbeat in securing the freedom of the girls abducted from their
school dormitories in Chikok, Borno State, more than two years ago, thus
ending the horrible saga that has characterized their abduction by Boko
Haram terrorist group.
The reaction followed the latest video showing about 50 of the girls sitting on the ground and clad in full
length veils in captivity.
The video released by the Abubakar
Shekau faction showed the girls still alive while some are said to have
died from the air strikes launched by Nigerian air force on the Boko
Haram enclaves.
The kidnap of 276 students from
Government Girls Secondary School in Nigeria’s volatile north-east
generated a global outrage. About 219 of the girls are still missing,
while some escaped with the recent being Amina Nkeki, found with her
young baby by local hunters in Sambisa forest.
Boko Haram group is understood to be
willing to release some of the missing students in exchange for some of
their captured fighters held in prisons across the country.
The splintered insurgent group, in the
video, made a demand for the release of its captured fighters in return
for the release of the girls.
In a statement in Abuja, Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said government was exercising
caution on the safety of the girls and remained in touch with the group
purportedly behind the video.
”We are on top of the situation. But we are being extremely careful
because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of
Boko Haram. We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of
the girls.
because the situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of
Boko Haram. We are also being guided by the need to ensure the safety of
the girls.
”Since this is not the first time we
have been contacted over the issue, we want to be doubly sure that those
we are in touch with are who they claim to be,” Mohammed said.
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