Boko Haram Stalls Prisoner Swap With Abducted Chibok Girls

Fresh facts have emerged on why
President Muhammadu Buhari has
remained steadfast on his position
that the federal government would
only negotiate for the release of the
abducted Chibok girls with those who
are directly holding them.

It has emerged that two recent
attempts in recent weeks by the
Federal Government for prisoners
swap with the so called
representative of the terror group
may have reached a dead end as
each time security officials arrive at
designated locations with Boko
Haram prisoners for the swap, Boko
Haram representatives fail to show
up as they are required to produce at
least 50 verifiable Chibok girls for
the first wave of the swap, security
officials tell THISDAY.
Two hundred and seventy six girls
were kidnapped from their school
dormitory on April 14, 2014, and
although 59 were able to escape, one
recently, 217 have remained in
captivity, sparking global outrage
over their abduction.
THISDAY exclusively gathered that
the federal government had through
the Office of the National Security
Adviser (ONSA), in conjunction with
the Directorate of the State Service
(DSS), have in the last two weeks
reached back channels agreements
with some on the leadership of the
sect on the venue, date and other
logistics necessary to facilitate the
swap of identified Boko Haram
prisoners from specific prisons for
the Chibok girls.
The source familiar with the back
channel deal said at the appointed
time and date, when all was set and
the identified prisoners were moved
to the location slated for the swap,
neither the Boko Haram
representatives, its commanders nor
the Chibok girls were anywhere near
the vicinity, prompting the federal
government to return the Boko
Haram prisoners to their prison
cells.
Boko Haram’s inability to deliver the
girls, the security source revealed is
frustrating the federal government’s
efforts to recover the girls.
Given its propensity for reneging on
its promise, the source told THISDAY
that the development informed the
president’s insistence that, going
forward, although the federal
government remains open to
negotiations with the sect for the
release of the Chibok girls, his
administration would only
contemplate further negotiations
with any group within the sect’s
bona fide leadership who are in
possession of the girls as that would
have to provide proof of life, as well
as verifiable guarantees through
credible 3rd parties, including the
Red Cross, that they know the
whereabouts of the girls.
It is the same reason, the source
added, that Buhari two days ago
asked the sect to nominate an
internationally recognised non-
governmental organisation (NGO)
that would negotiate on its behalf for
the release of the girls.
The president, while addressing the
issue in Nairobi, Kenya, on the
sidelines of the sixth Tokyo
International Conference on African
Development (TICAD VI), said: “If
they do not want to talk to us
directly, let them pick an
internationally recognised non-
governmental organisation, convince
them that they are holding the girls
and that they want Nigeria to release
a number of Boko Haram leaders in
detention, which they are supposed
to know.”
The federal government, starting
with the Goodluck Jonathan
administration, has made a number
of efforts to rescue the girls since
2014, but all attempts have failed to
date.