Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria's former
president Olusegun Obasanjo has voiced fears that not all of the
Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram would return.
"It's
inconceivable to get all of them back," he said in an interview with the
Premium Times online news site published Thursday.
"If you get all of them back, I will consider it a near-miracle," he was quoted as saying.
Boko
Haram militants abducted 276 girls from their school in the remote town
of Chibok, in northeastern Borno state, on April 14.
Nearly
two months on, there is little sign of the girls being freed or
rescued, despite Nigeria's military saying that they knew where the
teenagers were being held and an international rescue effort.
Obasanjo,
who last month held exploratory talks to open channels of communication
with the Islamists through intermediaries, echoed widely held doubts
that all of the girls were still together.
Analysts
suspect that the 219 girls still missing are likely to have been split
into smaller groups and possibly taken outside Nigeria.
The
mass abduction triggered global condemnation and criticism about
Nigeria's government and military initial response, which was described
as slow and lacklustre.
In a
recent televised interview, Obasanjo -- president from 1999 to 2007
after the country returned to civilian rule -- had slammed the Nigerian
authorities' lethargy in rescuing the girls.
US
drones and surveillance aircraft have been involved in the hunt but
with Nigeria fearful that an armed response would put the girls' lives
in danger, talk has turned to negotiations.
Boko
Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has indicated that he may be prepared to
release the girls in exchange for militant fighters held in the
country's jails.
Nigeria's
government initially rejected the proposal out of hand but there are
indications that it may be prepared to open dialogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment