BREAKTHROUGH: Military Track Abducted Chibok Girls to Three Boko Haram Camps in Borno State

 

Sources within the Nigerian military indicate they might have picked up the trail of the over 200 girls abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists on April 14.
According to Premium Times, a senior military official in Abuja (on condition of anonymity) disclosed that, in a "most difficult but heroic breakthrough," soldiers from the Army's 7th Division have narrowed their search to three Boko Haram insurgents' camps in Kukawa local government area of Borno State, near the Lake Chad. The information was further confirmed by a senior commander from the 7th Infantry Division of the Army which was formed to battle insurgency in the Northeastern areas of Nigeria with its base in Borno State capital, Maiduguri.
Military and civilian officials in Abuja who are coordinating the search operation for the missing girls said they've been split into three groups and being held at camps in Madayi, Dogon Chuku and Meri villages in Borno State - the areas within the Sector 3 operational division of the Nigerian military detachment.
One of the Premium Times' military sources condemned those who doubted the Nigerian army are doing everything possible to rescue the girls, adding that they have been tracking the girls since April 26.
Some sources have also maintained there is a fourth such camp at Kangarwa settlement, but the claim could
not be immediately verified.
However, when presented with the information, Director of Defence Information Major General Chris Olukolade declined to comment, saying only that the military are working hard and checking every piece of information to ensure that "our girls are rescued without delay."
The alleged location of the girls suggests a new insight into the logistic orientation of Boko Haram, the terrorist group responsible for thousands of deaths in a five-year long insurgency.
While the world's attention is focused on the Sambisa forest reserves, about 330 kilometres south of Maiduguri, the terrorists mapped a complex mission that began at Chibok, and veered north east of Sambisa, before heading to west of Bama and east of Konduga.
With the sighting, officials fear that Boko Haram militants may be seeking to create new options of escape all the way to Lo-gone-Et Chari in Cameroon to its Southeast, Lake Chad to its east and Diffa in Niger Republic to its north, providing a multiple escape options in the event of hostile ground operations against it.
Notwithstanding the sighting, the government is said not to be considering the use of force against the extremists, a choice informed by concerns for the safety of the students.
But with growing local and international pressure, a likely option may be for the authorities to enter into talks with the group, whose leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a May 12 video broadcast, called for dialogue and “prisoner” swap with the government.
The government has ruled out that option in the open but knowledgeable sources in Abuja hinted at a possible “twin track” approach that includes open rejection and a closet engagement.
“That option is not as bitter as you think in the face of the alternatives confronting us,” the source who has deep insight on the thinking of the administration, said.
“Government is working hard to free the girls in less than one week, possibly before end of this week,” the source said.

The abductions have sparked international outrage, with the United States, United Kingdom, France and Israel, providing intelligence and surveillance assistance.

Source: Punch Nigeria

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