19/10/2014
Girls will hopefully be released by Tuesday
2014-10-18 15:29
Abuja - Nigeria aims to have secured the release of 200
girls kidnapped by Islamist Boko Haram militants by
Tuesday, a senior source at the presidency told Reuters
on Saturday, although he declined to comment on where
the transfer would take place.
"I can confirm that FG (the federal government) is working
hard to meet its own part of the agreement so that the
release of the abductees can by effected either on Monday
or latest Tuesday next week," the source told Reuters by
telephone.
The head of Nigeria's military, Air Chief Marshal Alex
Badeh, announced on Friday that authorities had reached
a deal with Boko Haram for a ceasefire that would enable
the release of the girls, who were kidnapped while taking
exams in a secondary school from the remote
northeastern town of Chibok in April.
Officials at the presidency and the military did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boko Haram, which conveys messages in videotaped
speeches by a man claiming to be its leader, Abubakar
Shekau, has also not yet commented on the ceasefire.
Some Nigerians are likely to greet claims of a ceasefire
with scepticism after five years of violence. Since the
girls' abduction, Nigeria's military has twice claimed to
have rescued some or all of the girls, only to back-track
hours later.
Several rounds of negotiations with Boko Haram have
been attempted in recent years but they have never
achieved a peace deal, partly because the group has
several different factions.
The group, whose name translates roughly as "Western
education is sinful" has killed thousands of people in its
struggle to carve an Islamic state out of religiously mixed
Nigeria.
- Reu
