The military has tracked down and
surrounded the location, where over 200 schoolgirls who were abducted
two weeks ago from Government Secondary School, Chibok, are being held
captive, while exploring various options, including intense negotiations
by locals and the Borno State Government to secure their release.
Disclosing this yesterday, a security source said the military has
already identified the various camps in which the girls are being held,
but is being cautious about executing a full onslaught against their
captors, in order to avoid collateral damage. He said:
“The operation is being strategically carried in a very covert manner
because the terrorists will not hesitate to use any of the girls as
human shields or even kill them in the event of an attack.
“Another thing you must consider is that apart from being a large
expanse of land area, the Sambisa forest also has many clusters of
villages and settlements that can suffer from the collateral damage,
should an all-out bombardment be carried out.
“Assuming the military attacks them and some of the girls get killed in
the process, can you imagine the outrage that will come from the
members of the public? So they (military) are being careful.
“All this while, the military has known and has tracked the locations
where they are and has even concluded plans to invade the place, but
later shelved it to avoid collateral damage.”
Owing to the change of tactics, it was revealed that the military is
relying more on intelligence gathering and negotiations by some local
indigenes and the state government with the terrorists to secure the
release of the girls.
It has also emerged that in the course of searching for the girls, the
military has arrested some of the arrowheads behind their abduction and
are currently undergoing interrogation.
The source further explained that the security forces do not want to
get involved in negotiations since they consider the kidnapping a
“highly coordinated local issue” with the full backing of the state
government.
“The state government and the Commissioner (of Education) are seriously
negotiating (for the girls’ freedom) because they know these boys. And
what you see playing out is the politics of the state of emergency,”