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Nigerian gov't lauded for dialogue with Boko Haram in freeing Chibok girls

Xinhua, September 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Nigerian socio-cultural group on Wednesday commended the willingness of the government to dialogue with Boko Haram insurgents on the release of the Chibok girls.

The Kubaku Area Development Association, the umbrella body of the various communities in restive northeast Chibok town, in a statement sent to Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, said the hope of the parents to reunite with their children was redeemed following the pronouncement of the federal government to negotiate with Boko Haram.

Scribe of the Association Muhammad Askira lauded President Muhammadu Buhari's empathy, commitment and political will to fight against the insurgency.

"If the Boko Haram leaders are sincere with what they have said, we believe our girls would be rescued," he added.

"We commend the military in doing a very good job in rooting out the insurgents from their hideouts," Askira said.

"We have the hope that sooner or later, our girls would be released and they will reunite with their families," the scribe added.

President Buhari had on Sunday said his government has concluded plans to discuss the release of Chibok girls with Boko Haram insurgents.

The Nigerian leader said his government had since expressed its readiness to dialogue with bona fide leaders of the terror group, who know the whereabouts of the girls.

Buhari maintained that the terror group, which pledged allegiance to ISIS, had been largely decimated by Nigerian military with the support of immediate neighbors of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin.

A faction of Boko Haram militants, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, recently released a new video showing the abducted Chibok girls.

The video showed a masked armed man standing in front of several girls, who, he claimed, were among the over 200 girls abducted from their school hostel at Government Secondary School, Chibok, in 2014.

The man said the video was released to send a message to the parents of the girls to beg the Nigerian government to release Boko Haram members in various detention centers in exchange for the girls.

The man said about 40 of the girls were already married while some were dead. Boko Haram has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths in Nigeria since 2009. Endit