The federal government is working on daily basis to secure the release of Miss Leah Sharibu still in the captivity of Boko Haram, Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, said yesterday. Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, the minister said tortuous negotiations were still to secure her release.
“I think Mr. President actually addressed that issue in Washington and my position is always the same that we are yet to resolve the issue of six girls. 111 girls were kidnapped, 105 were returned and we are busy on daily basis asking and negotiating and asking what happened to those five officially at least and then what is delaying the young girl Leah Sharibu.
“Negotiations with insurgents are quite tortuous and complicated at times, but I can assure you we are not leaving her to her fate and those who should are daily busy working on her release,” he said. Asked what was torturous about the negotiations since the terrorists released the girls in broad daylight, the minister said: “Anybody who negotiates with insurgents and terrorists in the world will know that is not a direct face to face negotiation like we are doing.”
It would be recalled that the Boko Haram insurgents refused to release Leah Sharibu alongside the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls they abducted for allegedly refusing to embrace Islam. Her continued captivity has been eliciting concern from Nigerians who demand more positive action from government to ensure her immediate release. Recently, her father, Nathaniel Sharibu, appealed to the media to put pressure on the federal government to ensure the release of his daughter
