A United Kingdom -based television stationChannels 4 News which disclosed this on Tuesday did not say if the negotiator is acting on his own or on behalf of the federal or Borno State Government.
Although the station quoted him as saying that the girls’ release was “within reach,” he also warned that their fate rested on a knife-edge because of the fear by the insurgents that the military might try to forcibly free them.
“The girls, we believe, are alive but they have been moved from the location to which they were originally taken,” he said. “It would not be hard to engineer a deal.
It looks like they want to release them.
They want a way out, “added the intermediary, whom Channel 4 News credited with having a long experience of dealing directly with Boko Haram in previous hostage crises.
The negotiator, who wanted to remain anonymous for reasons of personal security, said the group was demanding a ransom but added, “we are hoping they will soften their stance.”
The kidnappers had warned, however, that attempts by the military to use might to secure the girls’ freedom “may result in the death” of many of them. He stated that some members of the sect group were arguing over what to do with the girls, who were forcibly married off with a bride price of just N2,000 after they had been converted to Islam.
The negotiator stated that “the danger now is that the military will get involved and that can only end badly.” “They have a problem. They have over 200 captives and moving them around cannot remain hidden. There is good, reliable, local knowledge as to their location. The military knows where they are,” he stated. He added that the hostage-takers had been asked for a list of the girls’ names as proof-of-life.
There were reports on Tuesday that the insurgents had taken the girls to Chad and Cameroon. The headteacher of the government secondary, Mrs Asabe Kwambura, had said on Tuesday that 10 more girls had been “recovered.” “For now, the total number of girls we have recovered is 53 while many others are still missing,” Kwambura said.
When contacted, the Director of Defence Information, Maj.Gen .Chris Olukolade, for his comment on the issue, he referred the issue to the Presidency and the Federal Ministry of Information. He said, “Please you can direct your inquiries to the Presidency or the Ministry of Information.”
But efforts to get reactions of the Federal and Borno State governments on the engagement of the negotiator did not succeed. The Minister of Special Duties and Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Taminu Turaki, did not pick calls to his mobile phone neither did he respond to an SMS sent to him. Attempt to speak to the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, proved abortive as calls to his mobile phone and that of his media aide were not picked.
Also, calls to the Special Adviser to the Borno State Governor on Media, Mr. Issa Gusau, did not go through.
There were protests in various cities across the country including the federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
One of the parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The President should learn the act of motivating his citizens. Let him first visit the school where the girls were abducted and then wear his military uniform as the Commander-in Chief of the nation’s armed forces and lead a team to search for our children.
According to her; “Some women the other time told Nigerians that they were willing to storm the Sambisa Forest in search of the abducted schoolgirls and the rest of the nation applauded their courage.
“ The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, should also get involved, What stopped her from volunteering to lead the search party. “Let her stop all this adverts on the television portraying her as “Mama Peace” and lead by example by leading the women who she claimed to be leading to look for their daughters.”
Another parent said, “If I am the President, I will wear my military uniform and lead the military into the Sambisa Forest.”
Two other parents, who spoke on the telephone, said they were fast losing hope that their daughters might return to them.
One of them, said, “It is now 15 days after the incident and we are still in the dark as to the efforts being made to get our children freed. All we have been hearing is that they have been married off and sexually maltreated.”
Another parent asked, “Do we have government in this country at all that could be relied upon to protect all of us?” “My daughter and over 200 others are in the hands of a couple of hoodlums in a specified forest for 15 days now and we pride ourselves as having one of the strongest armies on the African continent.
“How strong does a military need to free over 200 schoolgirls from the arms of a couple of disgruntled ragtag militants?” she asked.
A soldier, who spoke anonymously with journalists in Maiduguri said he was in support of the call by the parents on Jonathan to get directly involved in rescuing the girls. He said, “His (Jonathan) presence even in Maiduguri let alone Chibok could do some magic as the troops will definitely know that they are on an important mission for fatherland and will be ready to even sacrifice their blood.”
“If the President now go the extra mile and wear the military camouflage even to the periphery of Sambisa Forest, the entire Armed Forces will not be under any illusion that this is a sectional battle but a war that the country must win.
“This will equally tell the service chiefs and all heads of security agents that there is no more hiding place and that the President mean action.”
One of the parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The President should learn the act of motivating his citizens. Let him first visit the school where the girls were abducted and then wear his military uniform as the Commander-in Chief of the nation’s armed forces and lead a team to search for our children.
According to her; “Some women the other time told Nigerians that they were willing to storm the Sambisa Forest in search of the abducted schoolgirls and the rest of the nation applauded their courage.
“ The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, should also get involved, What stopped her from volunteering to lead the search party. “Let her stop all this adverts on the television portraying her as “Mama Peace” and lead by example by leading the women who she claimed to be leading to look for their daughters.”
Another parent said, “If I am the President, I will wear my military uniform and lead the military into the Sambisa Forest.”
Two other parents, who spoke on the telephone, said they were fast losing hope that their daughters might return to them.
One of them, said, “It is now 15 days after the incident and we are still in the dark as to the efforts being made to get our children freed. All we have been hearing is that they have been married off and sexually maltreated.”
Another parent asked, “Do we have government in this country at all that could be relied upon to protect all of us?” “My daughter and over 200 others are in the hands of a couple of hoodlums in a specified forest for 15 days now and we pride ourselves as having one of the strongest armies on the African continent.
“How strong does a military need to free over 200 schoolgirls from the arms of a couple of disgruntled ragtag militants?” she asked.
A soldier, who spoke anonymously with journalists in Maiduguri said he was in support of the call by the parents on Jonathan to get directly involved in rescuing the girls. He said, “His (Jonathan) presence even in Maiduguri let alone Chibok could do some magic as the troops will definitely know that they are on an important mission for fatherland and will be ready to even sacrifice their blood.”
“If the President now go the extra mile and wear the military camouflage even to the periphery of Sambisa Forest, the entire Armed Forces will not be under any illusion that this is a sectional battle but a war that the country must win.
“This will equally tell the service chiefs and all heads of security agents that there is no more hiding place and that the President mean action.”
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