A journalist with close contact to the leadership of Boko Haram Terrorist sect, Ahmed Salkida, has disclosed that the abducted Chibok girls are still alive with some of them refusing to convert to Islam.
No fewer than 200 of the original 300 schoolgirls kidnapped from their dormitory in April 2014, are believed to still be in Boko Haram custody despite fears expressed in some quarters that they might have been sent on suicide bombing missions.
President Muhammadu Buhari said in his maiden Media Chat on Wednesday that government had no credible intelligence on the whereabouts of the schoolgirls but promised to negotiate with the Boko Haram leadership if there is evidence showing that they are alive and well.
Online publication, The Cable, quoted Salkida yesterday as asking President Buhari to use state machinery to open up access to the militants rather than say he has no clue on the kidnapped girls.
“Most of the Chibok girls, whether they are split into groups or not, are alive, multiple credible sources have told me. And if a deal to release them will weaken national security and endanger the entire country, then the federal government shouldn’t make a deal”, Salkida said.
He continued: “I am confident that Chibok girls and other captives can return to their families if the government is half as strong-willed as some of the girls in captivity that have refused to be married out or give up their faith.
“The girls would have never backed out of any process, no matter how irritating it is. They would stay on and negotiate hard until they get a deal that will earn them their freedom and stop such abductions so that no one else can ever witness their woeful plight”.
Elusive Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, who has disappeared from the public glare in the last 10 months, following increased military onslaught against him and his group, once released a video footage showing the girls reciting verses from the Qu’ran and vowing to sell them off to marriage.
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