B/Haram Demands Release Of Its Bomb Maker In Exchange For Chibok Girls

Government officials have met with the leaders of Boko Haram sect for talks
on freedom for the abducted Chibok girls, President Muhammadu Buhari
yesterday said in France.
However, he added that apart from ensuring that it negotiates with genuine leaders of
the sect, the government rejected the condition given to it by the sect to proceed with
the negotiations.

The condition is for the release from custody of the main suspect behind the
production of Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs).
The President, who was rounding off his state visit to France, spoke during a meeting
with the Nigerian community, who met with him under the auspices of Nigerians In the
Diaspora Organisation (NIDO)
Buhari said: “The issue of Chibok girls has occupied our minds and because of the
international attention it drew and the sympathy throughout the country and the world,
the government is negotiating with some of Boko Haram’s leadership.
“It is a very sensitive development in the sense that first we have to establish who are
the genuine leaders of the Boko Haram. That is number one. Number two, what are
their terms? The first impression we had was not very encouraging,” he said
He said: “They wanted us to release one of their leaders who is a strategic person in
developing and making IEDs which have been causing a lot of havoc in the country by
blowing up people in churches, mosques, marketplaces, motor parks and other places.
“But it is very important that if we are going to talk to anybody, we have to know how
much he is worth.
“Let them bring all the girls and then, we will be prepared to negotiate. I will allow
them to come back to Nigeria or to be absorbed into the community. We have to be
very careful; the concern we have for the Chibok girls, one only imagine if they got a
daughter there between 14 and 18 years and for more than one and a half years, a lot
of the parents who have died would rather see the graves of their daughters rather the
condition they imagine they were in.
“This has drawn a lot of sympathy throughout the world; that is why this government is
getting very hard in negotiating and getting the balance of those who are alive.”
Buhari assured the Nigerians that his administration was doing everything to improve on
the state of the economy through provision of infrastructure in critical areas.