A member of the negotiating process that secured the release of 21 Chibok girls last week said the feat was an outcome of a process that started two years ago.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, told Channels Television on Tuesday that negotiations between the insurgents and Federal Government yielded result, with the help of the Swiss Government and other teams.
He also suggested that negotiation should be sustained, to secure the release of the remaining girls .
Over 200 girls were taken from their school’s dormitory in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014.
Issue Of Ransom
The Senator commended the security agencies for sustaining the pressure on the insurgents in their camps, adding that the negotiation and pressure had happened over a period of two years.
Speaking as a guest on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television’s programme, Senator Sani revealed that a swap of detained insurgents with the detained girls was suggested in the course of negotiation.
He said the suggestion was not accepted, as there was no swap made, as clearly stated by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
Senator Sani stated that the remaining girls were not in different camps but in the same faction which the Federal Government had been negotiating with.
The Senator being a part of the team that secured the girls release, declined giving further information on if any ransom was paid but stated that the government was on the right path on securing the remaining girls.
He further stated that the issue of ransom should be kept, so as not to undermine the process. Instead, he called for support for those involved in the current negotiation to ensure it would succeed.
Senator Sani, however, said that he was involved in the last negotiation process but was not in the current negotiation, stressing that initial negotiations had set the pace for the ongoing negotiation.
He urged the Federal Government to sustain the ongoing negotiations with the insurgents, as it is the only guaranteed way of securing the safe release of the remaining girls.
So far, less than 40 of the girls have been rescued.
The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, has promised to ensure that the remaining girls were released and rehabilitated.
