Chibok Girls : We Are Not Against Third Party Dialogue – Jonathan

The Federal Government says it is not against intermediaries that have offered to persuade the Boko Haram terrorist group to release over 200 Chibok Girls kidnapped in Borno State, April this year.

President Goodluck Jonathan told the Washington Times in USA, where he attend an African Leaders Summit convened by US President Barrack Obama, that the government welcomed the efforts of the intermediaries, stressing that all avenues would be explored to rescue the girls.

A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, quotes the President as saying that ”while appreciating the support of the international community in an ongoing rescue effort of Chibok Girls, their safety should be considered paramount in several methods of the operation”.
While describing a strict military approach to the rescue effort as ‘delicate’, President Jonathan said: “If it is to risk a few dead bodies, it is easier. You can blast the place and carry the corpses. But is that what we have to do? So it is delicate”.

According to the President, the Federal Government has information on the location of the kidnapped girls, but was being mindful of the consequences of invading the location to avoid a repeat of an episode in February 2013, in which an offshoot of Boko Haram killed 7 foreign hostages in Northern Nigeria before authorities could rescue them.

He believes members of the Islamist militant group are ready to die when dealing with such scenario. “It is different from an ordinary kidnapping by criminals or people who don’t want to die. So it is very, very delicate.”

President Jonathan, however, stressed that the dialogue option was not being ruled out, explaining that the government had set up a dialogue committee on the security challenge also in north, even before the Chibok girls were kidnapped.

“We have a team and we encourage people to assist them. Quite a number of people have come with different information. But none of them has yielded any results yet,” he said.

The President expressed the government’s commitment to winning the war against terrorism in Northern Nigeria as well as rebuilding the infrastructure destroyed by insurgents. He called on all leaders in the region to co-operate with the Federal Government and assist security agencies with necessary information to accomplish their mission of securing lives and property of citizens.