A hostage negotiator has moved to broker a deal
between the government and Boko Haram for the safe release of the more
than 200 girls abducted by insurgents from their hostel in
Chibok, Borno State.
A United Kingdom -based television station Channels 4 News which
disclosed this on Tuesday did not say if the negotiator is acting on his own or
on behalf of the federal or Borno State Government.
Although the station quoted him as saying that the girls’ release
was “within reach,” he also warned that their
fate rested on a knife-edge because of the fear by the
insurgents that the military might try to forcibly free them.
“The girls, we believe, are alive but they have been moved from the
location to which they were originally taken,” he said.
“It would not be hard to engineer a deal. It looks like they want to
release them. They want a way out, “added the intermediary, whom Channel 4
News credited with having a long experience of dealing directly
with Boko Haram in previous hostage crises.
The negotiator, who wanted to remain anonymous for reasons of personal
security, said the group was demanding a ransom but added, “we are
hoping they will soften their stance.”
The kidnappers had warned, however, that attempts by the military to use
might to secure the girls’ freedom “may result in the death” of many of
them.
He stated that some members of the sect group were
arguing over what to do with the girls, who were forcibly married off with a
bride price of just N2,000 after they had been converted to Islam.
The negotiator stated that “the danger now is that the military
will get involved and that can only end badly.”
“They have a problem. They have over 200 captives and moving them
around cannot remain hidden. There is good, reliable, local knowledge as to
their location. The military knows where they are,” he stated.
He added that the hostage-takers had been asked for a list of the
girls’ names as proof-of-life.
There were reports on Tuesday that the insurgents had taken the girls to
Chad and Cameroon.
The headteacher of the government secondary, Mrs Asabe Kwambura,
had said on Tuesday that 10 more girls had
been “recovered.”
“For now, the total number of girls we have recovered is 53 while
many others are still missing,” Kwambura said.
When one of our correspondents contacted the Director of Defence
Information, Maj.Gen .Chris Olukolade, for his comment on the issue, he
referred him to the Presidency and the Federal Ministry of Information.
He said, “Please you can direct your inquiries to the Presidency
or the Ministry of Information.”
But efforts to get reactions of the Federal and Borno State
governments on the engagement of the negotiator did not succeed.
The Minister of Special Duties and Presidential Committee on
Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji
Taminu Turaki, did not pick calls to his mobile phone neither did he
respond to an SMS sent to him.
Attempt to speak to the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku,
proved abortive as calls to his mobile phone and that of his media aide were
not picked.
Also, calls to the Special Adviser to the Borno State Governor on
Media, Mr. Issa Gusau, did not go through