Female students of Government
Girls Secondary School, Chibok, who
escaped from Boko Haram
insurgents arrive in a car to identity
their classmates shown in a video
released by Boko Haram Islamists at
the Government House, Maiduguri
on May 13, 2014. The female
hostages shown in a video released
by Boko Haram have been identified
as students of the secondary school
attacked by the Islamists on April
14, the area governor said Tuesday.
Nigeria's President Goodluck
Jonathan has ruled out the release
of Boko Haram fighters in
exchange for the freedom of more
than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by
the militants a month ago.
Britain's Africa minister Mark
Simmonds, in Nigeria for talks
about the international rescue
mission, told reporters Wednesday
that he raised the issue with
Jonathan during a meeting in
Abuja.
"I did discuss this with the
president and he made it very
clear that there will be no
negotiation with Boko Haram that
involves a swap of abducted
schoolgirls for prisoners", he told
reporters.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar
Shekau suggested in a video
released on Monday that he may
be prepared to release the girls if
Nigeria freed militants held in the
country's jails.
Interior Minister Abba Moro
immediately rejected the plan,
telling AFP that the Islamist group,
which has waged a deadly
insurgency in northeast Nigeria
since 2009, could not dictate terms.
A door appeared to have opened to
discussions about the girls on
Tuesday, when special duties
minister Taminu Turaki indicated
that the teenagers' freedom could
up for discussion.
Simmonds said Jonathan had now
ruled that out, he added that the
president was still prepared to
fulfil his pledge of talking to the
extremists about wider issues to
end the violence.
The rejection of a prisoner swap
came as international powers
ramped up the search effort,
including with the use of US
military surveillance drones and
manned aircraft.
The Pentagon said it had deployed
the robotic Global Hawk, which
flies at high altitude, and the
manned MC-12, a propeller plane
heavily used in Afghanistan.
Both types of aircraft are
"unarmed" and strictly being used
for surveillance.
However, the data is not yet being
shared with the Nigerians because
Washington is still working out an
agreement to govern the sharing of
intelligence, Colonel Steven Warren
told reporters
Hawkish Republican Senator John
McCain said the Pentagon should
consider acting unilaterally and
sending US special forces in to
rescue the girls.
He mocked the capabilities of
Nigeria's military and said any
special forces entry to deal with
the Boko Haram "animals" should
be done without their knowledge.
US military officials said privately
that a rescue mission would be
fraught with massive risks and
dangers and that it currently was
not deemed an option.
In London, British Prime Minister
David Cameron told parliament a
Sentinel surveillance aircraft and a
military team would be sent to
Abuja to assist in the search.
France, Israel and China are also
involved, with the hunt focused on
the Sambisa forest area of Borno
state, although there are fears the
girls may have been split up and
taken to neighbouring Chad or
Cameroon.
Worldwide interest has been
growing in the plight of the
missing girls after 276 teenagers
were abducted from their school in
the remote northeastern town of
Chibok on April 14. A total of 223
are still missing.
Jonathan's office said he had
received "solidarity calls" from the
prime ministers of Algeria,
Abdelmalek Sellal, and Pakistan,
Nawaz Sharif.
In Paris, President Francois
Hollande's office said the leaders
of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and
Chad would meet with Jonathan in
the French capital on Saturday for
a security summit.
Representatives from the European
Union, Britain and the United
States would also attend, the
Elysee said.
"The meeting will discuss... how to
cut off (Boko Haram) by
intelligence, how to train to fight
and drive out the killers," Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius added.
Jonathan on Tuesday requested
parliamentary approval for a six-
month state of emergency first
imposed in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa states on May 14 last
year.
Lawmakers in the lower House of
Representatives began discussing
the issue while senators from the
upper chamber summoned the
ministers of defence and police
affairs, military and security chiefs
to brief them on Thursday.
By law, the request has to be
approved by two-thirds of both
chambers.
The extension request was widely
expected but its effectiveness has
been questioned.
The governor of Yobe state,
however, voiced his opposition to
extending the state of emergency
and it is likely that Borno and
Adamawa will follow suit.
All three states are run by the
main opposition All Progressives
Congress party, which is eyeing
power in next year's general
election.
Attacks have increased on rural
areas leading to mounting civilian
casualties. More than 1,500 are
estimated to have been killed this
year alone.
Security analysts have urged
Nigeria to improve its counter-
insurgency tactics including more
use of intelligence, instead of just
conventional means, to defeat
guerrilla fighters.
International military leaders hope
their expertise could help refine
Nigeria's tactics against Boko
Haram.
Girls Secondary School, Chibok, who
escaped from Boko Haram
insurgents arrive in a car to identity
their classmates shown in a video
released by Boko Haram Islamists at
the Government House, Maiduguri
on May 13, 2014. The female
hostages shown in a video released
by Boko Haram have been identified
as students of the secondary school
attacked by the Islamists on April
14, the area governor said Tuesday.
Nigeria's President Goodluck
Jonathan has ruled out the release
of Boko Haram fighters in
exchange for the freedom of more
than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by
the militants a month ago.
Britain's Africa minister Mark
Simmonds, in Nigeria for talks
about the international rescue
mission, told reporters Wednesday
that he raised the issue with
Jonathan during a meeting in
Abuja.
"I did discuss this with the
president and he made it very
clear that there will be no
negotiation with Boko Haram that
involves a swap of abducted
schoolgirls for prisoners", he told
reporters.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar
Shekau suggested in a video
released on Monday that he may
be prepared to release the girls if
Nigeria freed militants held in the
country's jails.
Interior Minister Abba Moro
immediately rejected the plan,
telling AFP that the Islamist group,
which has waged a deadly
insurgency in northeast Nigeria
since 2009, could not dictate terms.
A door appeared to have opened to
discussions about the girls on
Tuesday, when special duties
minister Taminu Turaki indicated
that the teenagers' freedom could
up for discussion.
Simmonds said Jonathan had now
ruled that out, he added that the
president was still prepared to
fulfil his pledge of talking to the
extremists about wider issues to
end the violence.
The rejection of a prisoner swap
came as international powers
ramped up the search effort,
including with the use of US
military surveillance drones and
manned aircraft.
The Pentagon said it had deployed
the robotic Global Hawk, which
flies at high altitude, and the
manned MC-12, a propeller plane
heavily used in Afghanistan.
Both types of aircraft are
"unarmed" and strictly being used
for surveillance.
However, the data is not yet being
shared with the Nigerians because
Washington is still working out an
agreement to govern the sharing of
intelligence, Colonel Steven Warren
told reporters
Hawkish Republican Senator John
McCain said the Pentagon should
consider acting unilaterally and
sending US special forces in to
rescue the girls.
He mocked the capabilities of
Nigeria's military and said any
special forces entry to deal with
the Boko Haram "animals" should
be done without their knowledge.
US military officials said privately
that a rescue mission would be
fraught with massive risks and
dangers and that it currently was
not deemed an option.
In London, British Prime Minister
David Cameron told parliament a
Sentinel surveillance aircraft and a
military team would be sent to
Abuja to assist in the search.
France, Israel and China are also
involved, with the hunt focused on
the Sambisa forest area of Borno
state, although there are fears the
girls may have been split up and
taken to neighbouring Chad or
Cameroon.
Worldwide interest has been
growing in the plight of the
missing girls after 276 teenagers
were abducted from their school in
the remote northeastern town of
Chibok on April 14. A total of 223
are still missing.
Jonathan's office said he had
received "solidarity calls" from the
prime ministers of Algeria,
Abdelmalek Sellal, and Pakistan,
Nawaz Sharif.
In Paris, President Francois
Hollande's office said the leaders
of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and
Chad would meet with Jonathan in
the French capital on Saturday for
a security summit.
Representatives from the European
Union, Britain and the United
States would also attend, the
Elysee said.
"The meeting will discuss... how to
cut off (Boko Haram) by
intelligence, how to train to fight
and drive out the killers," Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius added.
Jonathan on Tuesday requested
parliamentary approval for a six-
month state of emergency first
imposed in Borno, Yobe and
Adamawa states on May 14 last
year.
Lawmakers in the lower House of
Representatives began discussing
the issue while senators from the
upper chamber summoned the
ministers of defence and police
affairs, military and security chiefs
to brief them on Thursday.
By law, the request has to be
approved by two-thirds of both
chambers.
The extension request was widely
expected but its effectiveness has
been questioned.
The governor of Yobe state,
however, voiced his opposition to
extending the state of emergency
and it is likely that Borno and
Adamawa will follow suit.
All three states are run by the
main opposition All Progressives
Congress party, which is eyeing
power in next year's general
election.
Attacks have increased on rural
areas leading to mounting civilian
casualties. More than 1,500 are
estimated to have been killed this
year alone.
Security analysts have urged
Nigeria to improve its counter-
insurgency tactics including more
use of intelligence, instead of just
conventional means, to defeat
guerrilla fighters.
International military leaders hope
their expertise could help refine
Nigeria's tactics against Boko
Haram.
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