Nigerian government says is in talks to secure release of remaining captive Chibok girls
The Nigerian government has said it is engaging in talks to ensure the release of the remaining Chibok girls that were captured by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in April 2014.
The Al-Qaeda affiliated group captured 276 girls from their school in Chibok on the night of 14–15 April 2014, but so far very few of them have returned to their parents.
More than 20 of the girls were released in October in a deal brokered by the International Red Cross, a few have managed to escape or been rescued, but 195 are believed to still be in captivity.
“(The government) is in constant touch through negotiations, through local intelligence to secure the release of the remaining girls and other abducted persons unharmed,” President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement.
President Buhari’s communication comes just a day before the third anniversary of the kidnapping that took the whole world by surprise.
The international community has time and again pressured the Nigerian government to do more to ensure the girls are re-united with their families.
“We have reached out to their captors, through local and international intermediaries, and we are ever ready to do everything within our means to ensure the safe release of all the girls,” Buhari added.
Although the Chibok girls are the most high-profile case that triggered massive social media campaign to ensure their release, Boko Haram has captured thousands of adults and children, many of whom were never rescued.
The militant group has waged an eight-year was in West Africa, hoping to enforce an Islamist state governed by strict sharia law.
In their terror quest, Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than two million.
President Muhamaddu Buhari pledged to crush the militant group, and even though the army says it has largely pushed the militants back, they still manage to launch attacks especially in north-eastern Nigeria.
