Nigeria says negotiation on-going for more Chibok girls release

Negotiation was on-going with Nigeria's Boko Haram group for the release of remaining Chibok girls in captivity, a senior official said Sunday.

At a thanksgiving service organized for the freed girls in Abuja, Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said the release of the 21 Chibok girls "is only a first step in what we believe will be a total liberation of all the girls."

"This is just the beginning and we are very optimistic that another batch, bigger than this will be released to us soon," Mohammed said.

The minister disclosed this a day after President Muhammadu Buhari said negotiations will continue until all the girls secure their freedom.

The minister cautioned "naysayers" who doubted the process and some social commentators to refrain from making comments that could jeopardize the process.

"We want to sound a note of warning, particularly to many reckless analysts and commentators who are not helping the situation," he said.

"We still have more than 120 of our children in captivity, therefore we must be careful of the kind of comments we make." said the minister. "We must not make comments that will make the release of other girls difficult or impossible."

The minister reiterated that the girls were not swapped for Boko Haram members in captivity and that the government did not pay ransom for their release.

Twenty-one girls, abducted from their school in Chibok, were released on Thursday, while some 100 others are still in Boko Haram's captivity. Endit