AP, Lagos :
Nigeria’s military says it has no news of the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic extremists nearly a year ago, despite liberating dozens of towns from the girls’ Boko Haram abductors.
The admission of lack of progress on the missing schoolgirls comes as the Nigerian military, bolstered by forces from neighboring countries, is regaining towns and cities held by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. The military’s successes come as Nigeria prepares for a critical presidential election on March 28.
Other kidnap victims have escaped and some have been freed by the militants, but there has been not a whisper about the girls whose mass abduction spawned the BringBackOurGirls campaign and provoked protests around the world.
“No news ?for now because in all the liberated areas we have, we have also made enquiries, but the truth is, when the terrorists are running away, they run also with their families,” army chief Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah told reporters on Tuesday.
“We are optimistic that … we will get further details on them” as Boko Haram’s area of influence shrinks, Minimah said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The military this week “liberated completely” the two northeastern states of Yobe and Adamawa from the extremists, said Minimah. He said Boko Haram now holds only three of 27 local government areas in Borno, the third northeastern state under a military state of emergency and the birthplace of Boko Haram.
On Monday, the military said it had recaptured Bama, the second city of Borno state, as it prepares a final assault against the extremists. The victories, after years of failure, follow an offensive launched at the end of January by troops from Chad.
Despite the lack of news on the schoolgirls, Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, currently campaigning for re-election in a tight race against former military dictator Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has repeated promises to bring the girls back alive.
“I am more hopeful now than before on the Chibok girls,” Jonathan told a televised media chat on Feb. 5. But unconfirmed reports indicate that many of the schoolgirls may have been forced into marriage with their captors, some carried across Nigeria’s borders and at least three died early on from snakebites and untreated malaria and other ailments.
However Jonathan says he remains optimistic.
“I believe that the story of the Chibok girls will be better, now that we are working with Niger, Cameroon and Chad,” he said, referring to a new regional army of 8,750 troops to fight Boko Haram as the militants carry their conflict over Nigeria’s borders in their bid to recreate an ancient Islamic caliphate.
Nigeria’s military says it has no news of the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic extremists nearly a year ago, despite liberating dozens of towns from the girls’ Boko Haram abductors.
The admission of lack of progress on the missing schoolgirls comes as the Nigerian military, bolstered by forces from neighboring countries, is regaining towns and cities held by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. The military’s successes come as Nigeria prepares for a critical presidential election on March 28.
Other kidnap victims have escaped and some have been freed by the militants, but there has been not a whisper about the girls whose mass abduction spawned the BringBackOurGirls campaign and provoked protests around the world.
“No news ?for now because in all the liberated areas we have, we have also made enquiries, but the truth is, when the terrorists are running away, they run also with their families,” army chief Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah told reporters on Tuesday.
“We are optimistic that … we will get further details on them” as Boko Haram’s area of influence shrinks, Minimah said in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The military this week “liberated completely” the two northeastern states of Yobe and Adamawa from the extremists, said Minimah. He said Boko Haram now holds only three of 27 local government areas in Borno, the third northeastern state under a military state of emergency and the birthplace of Boko Haram.
On Monday, the military said it had recaptured Bama, the second city of Borno state, as it prepares a final assault against the extremists. The victories, after years of failure, follow an offensive launched at the end of January by troops from Chad.
Despite the lack of news on the schoolgirls, Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, currently campaigning for re-election in a tight race against former military dictator Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has repeated promises to bring the girls back alive.
“I am more hopeful now than before on the Chibok girls,” Jonathan told a televised media chat on Feb. 5. But unconfirmed reports indicate that many of the schoolgirls may have been forced into marriage with their captors, some carried across Nigeria’s borders and at least three died early on from snakebites and untreated malaria and other ailments.
However Jonathan says he remains optimistic.
“I believe that the story of the Chibok girls will be better, now that we are working with Niger, Cameroon and Chad,” he said, referring to a new regional army of 8,750 troops to fight Boko Haram as the militants carry their conflict over Nigeria’s borders in their bid to recreate an ancient Islamic caliphate.
