Boko Haram not defeated without rescue of Chibok girls, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has restated his pledge that Boko Haram will not be considered defeated without the rescue of the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by the Boko Haram insurgents.

The President reiterated this in a response to a letter written to him by Ms Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist for female education, youngest-ever Nobel Prize Laureate and Co-Founder of the Malala Fund.

A press release on the letter dated Jan. 10 and signed on behalf of the President by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the press release was signed by the Special Adviser to the Minister, Mr Segun Adeyemi.

The President said that the “Nigerian government is unrelenting in its efforts to ensure the safe return of the Chibok girls who remain in captivity’’.

He said the military, the State Security Service and the other security agencies were intensifying their efforts to ensure freedom for all those who remained in captivity.

Buhari noted that while he could not divulge the details of ongoing negotiations to secure the release of
the girls due to the sensitive nature of the negotiations, the government is committed to their rescue.

“Be rest assured of the doggedness, commitment and sincerity of the Nigeria’s Federal Government toward ensuring the safe return of the Chibok girls, and indeed all others still in captivity.

The President said the gallant troops of the Nigerian military had recently scored a great victory by seizing control of the Sambisa forest, the last stronghold of the Boko Haram elements who were responsible for the kidnap of the Chibok girls.

On the welfare of the 21 Chibok girls who regained their freedom on Oct. 13, 2016, the president said the federal government had taken over the responsibility for their personal, educational and professional goals and ambitions in life.

“They are being given comprehensive medical, nutritional and psychological care and support, and anyone who has seen them in recent times will attest to the fact that their reintegration back to the society is progressing well.

“The federal government believes that it is not too late for the girls to go back to school, and everything will be done to ensure that they continue the pursuit of their
studies,’’ he assured.

Buhari commended Malala for her continuing caring disposition toward the release of the girls who remained in captivity and the welfare of the girls who had regained their freedom.

He said: “there is no better example of the fact that we are all linked by our common humanity’’.