Military responds to Boko Haram prisoner swap request

In response to the request made by the terrorist group Boko Haram in a recently released video of the abducted Chibok girls, the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonishakin has said that their demand that the Federal Government swap detained Boko Haram members for the Chibok Girls was a political decision that would not stop ongoing military operations.

He said this while addressing reporters after a workshop organised for top Security Chiefs at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on how to address emergency situations such as terrorist attacks, flood situations and general disaster management in times of crisis.

In the recently released video of the Chibok girls who were abducted from their school dormitory in Borno State in 2014, the sect made claims that the Nigerian Air Force had killed some of the girls during an air strike and showed bodies of the deceased girls.

They had also requested that their detained members be released in exchange for the abducted school girls. This latest release coincides with the workshop for members of the National Security Council which held behind closed doors.

Minister of information, Lai Mohammed, has emphasised that the government is on top of the situation and efforts are being made to rescue the kidnapped girls. He said the girls had overstayed in the hands of the dangerous sect and the government sees that as a huge challenge.

Olonishakin said the military had begun analysing the recent video that was released by the sect and the war against the Boko Haram sect was going on appropriately.