It was previously reported that Nigerian officials zeroed in on the location of the missing schoolgirls. Today, the government is at a standstill over what to do next.
According to the Associated Press, Nigerian officials and the government are conflicted on how to infiltrate a plan to rescue all 276 young girls abducted by Boko Haram safely. In a statement to reporters and protesters, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, Nigerian defense chief, explained that previous attempts at rescuing other victims have often ended in violence; something that everyone is trying to avoid this time around.
“The defense chief, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, announced Monday night that the military has located the girls, but offered no details or a way forward. “We can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back,” he said.
Previous military attempts to free hostages have led to the prisoners being killed by their abductors, including the deaths of two engineers, a Briton and an Italian, in Sokoto in March 2012.”
A plan to exchange the girls for detained Boko Haram extremists was canceled after Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan didn’t believe it would work. Community leaders have confirmed that the President is feeling the pressure to make a decision soon.
Community leader Pogu Bitrus of Chibok, the town from which the girls were abducted on April 15, says authorities are speaking with “discordant voices” and the president appears under pressure to negotiate.
“The pressure is there if his own lieutenants are saying one (thing). Because if they cannot use force, the deduction is that there must be negotiation,” Bitrus said. “And if their commander-in-chief, the president, is saying that he will not negotiate, then they are not on the same page.”
Over the past few weeks, small clues were given to the public about the missing girls, including a Boko Haram video of the children quoting Quranic verses in Arabic and some being forced into marriage with their abductors.
SOURCE: AP | VIDEO CREDIT: News Inc.
