Military hunts for three over details on Chibok girls’ location

• FG treads cautiously over latest video, faults ‘airstrikes death’ claim
• Parents, activists to storm Aso Rock

Three persons have been declared wanted by the military for alleged links with Boko Haram and for concealing information on the whereabouts of schoolgirls abducted by the sect two years ago.

A statement by army spokesman, Col Sani Usman, in Abuja, yesterday, named Ahmed Salkida, Ahmed U. Bolori and Aisha Wakil as having possibly breached the Counter Terrorism Act.“This becomes necessary as a result of their link with the last two videos released by Boko Haram and other findings of our preliminary investigations. There is no doubt that these individuals have links with Boko Haram and have contacts with them. They must, therefore, come forward and tell us where the group is keeping the girls and other abducted persons, to enable us rescue them,” the statement reads.

The military, meanwhile, said it is examining claim in the video that some the Chibok girls were killed during airstrikes.In the clip, a Boko Haram militant is seen in front of around 50 girls. He asks one of them a series of questions to establish her identity as one of the girls. She is then asked to pass on a message to the Nigerian government seeking the release of the sect’s jailed fighters. She pleads with parents of the girls to intervene and secure their freedom.

“We are not happy living here. I’m begging our parents to meet the government to release their people, so that we can be released,” she says.The Abubakar Shekau faction of the sect released the video, yesterday, with the militant depicted claiming some of the girls had been killed during aerial operations.

The Director Defence Information (DDI), Brig-General Rabe Abubakar, in Abuja, yesterday, however, said Defence Headquarters had seen the video but could not give it any credit until intelligence and forensic experts assess its authenticity.

Making the disclosure through PRNigeria, a security and defence online platform, Abubakar said: “Currently, we are studying the video clip to verify its authenticity and we are analysing the comments of the speaker in the video, especially the terrorist members and the girl that spoke in her mother tongue.”

He said: “It is extremely difficult and rare to hit innocent people during airstrikes because the operation is done through precision attack on identified and registered locations. The precision airstrike is very effective at taking out targeted enemies because it is not a random operation.“We are nevertheless studying the video clip to examine if the victims died from other causes, rather than from the allegation of airstrikes.”

A spokesman of the Chibok-Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA), Dr. Allen Manaseh, identified the girl in the video as Dorcas Yakubu.Dorcas, whose parents, Esther and Yakubu, live in Abuja and were both present at a meeting of the BringBackOurGirls advocacy group at Unity Fountain, in Abuja, yesterday.

A statement signed by the Oby Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu says recognition, by family members, of some of the girls in the video makes clear the girls are alive. “After listening to the call of Dorcas Yakubu, we demand an immediate, transparent action and results-oriented response by the government.

“We state categorically that the excuse of a split within the terrorists’ ranks or a period of validation of the authenticity of their claims will not suffice this time. We shall press these demands with a march to the Villa in the next few days” the statement reads in part.

Knocked perpetually by accusations it has not done enough to secure the release of the schoolgirls, the Federal Government said it would be “extremely careful” in handling the issue.Saying it is “on top of the situation,” the government stressed it is “being guided by the need to ensure the safety of the girls.”

Reacting to the video in a statement, yesterday, Special Adviser to the Minister of Information and Culture, Segun Adeyemi, said: “Since this is not the first time we have been contacted over the issue, we want to be doubly sure that those we are in touch with are who they claim to be.”

He noted that the “situation has been compounded by the split in the leadership of Boko Haram” but expressed hope that the recent scenario would bring an end to the saga.He disclosed that the government is “in touch with those purportedly behind the video.”