The Federal Government and the Boko Haram
Islamic sect will on Monday meet in Chad to further discuss the release
of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State in April
2014.
This came a week after a botched ceasefire agreement reached by the Federal government and the sect.
The
peace talk between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram sect, which
is being mediated by the Chadian government, had been called into
question since it was announced by the military last week following the
refusal of both parties to respect the ceasefire deal.
Boko Haram has yet to comment on the ceasefire and its fighters have continued to attack villages in the North-East.
READ MORE AFTER THE CUT.............................................
The insurgency group is responsible for the killings, abductions and the displacement of many Nigerians in the North-East.
The
Chadian government, however, confirmed that Nigeria’s deal with the
sect to free the schoolgirls would still go ahead despite the breakdown
of a truce.
A very senior official, Chad’s foreign ministry, Moussa Dago, who spoke with Reuters on Friday, said that the key to the agreement would be a prisoner swap.
Dago told Reuters that the two
sides agreed verbally to a series of points summarised in a document he
had seen, including the release of the schoolgirls and of jailed Boko
Haram fighters.
Dago said, “The starting condition of Boko Haram was the liberation of some of their members; that is the compensation.”
According to him, Chad does not know where the abducted Chibok girls are
being held, but Dago said it was likely they were outside of Chad and
spread out over a wide area.
He added that the specifics on the names and number of Boko Haram fighters still to be released had not yet been agreed.
He said it appeared some Boko Haram factions were refusing to abide by the deal.
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