Nigeria Pledges to Find Chibok Schoolgirls on Third Anniversary of Abduction

Of the 276 girls taken in 2014 from a boarding school,

196 remain missing.

By Ed Adamczyk  

The 2014 abduction of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls by the Boko Haram insurgent group brought

international outrage. Nigeria noted the third anniversary of the kidnappings Friday with a 

pledge to rescue the remaining 196 captives. File Photo by SnapShot Photos/Shutterstock

UPI -- Nigeria's president restated his pledge to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls taken by Boko Haram insurgents on the third anniversary of their abduction Friday.

In a message to families of 196 girls still captive after the April 15, 2014, attack on their secondary school, President Muhammudu Buhari said that as a parent, "I feel what you feel." He said his government is in continuous negotiations through international intermediaries with the captors.

"On this solemn occasion, my appeal is that we must not lose hope on the return of our remaining schoolgirls. Our intelligence and security forces, who have aptly demonstrated their competence, are very much equal to the task and absolutely committed to the efforts to find and return the schoolgirls and others abducted by Boko Haram," Buhari's message read in part.

The government has been known to exaggerate its successes against the Islamist group with Islamic State links in the past, and offered a similar message of hope several months ago, The New York Times reported Friday.

Rampant corruption and a complete disregard for the truth causes one to not take seriously anything that comes from the government or military in Nigeria. Buhari, however, has at least accomplished some weakening of Boko Haram and the release of some girls, which is considerably more than his useless predecessor, Jonathon, ever accomplished. Please keep these girls in your prayers.

A group of 21 girls was released in October after negotiations involving the Swiss government and the International Red Cross, and one was located wandering in a Nigerian forest. The government said at the time of the abductions that 276 students were captured by Boko Haram; 57 escaped within two days of the incident, and two more escaped separately.

The kidnappings sparked global outrage, particularly on social media. Celebrities involved themselves in the campaign to demand action through the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag.

21 Nigerian Schoolgirls Released by Boko Haram

Deal brokered by Swiss government and International Red Cross, spokesman says

The Associated Press

This undated image taken from video shows an alleged Boko Haram soldier standing in front of a group of girls said to be among the 276 abducted Chibok schoolgirls held since April 2014, in an unknown location. (Site Institute via AP)

Twenty-one of Nigeria's Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram more than two years ago have been freed in a swap for detained leaders of the Islamic extremist group, the government and military said Thursday.

Some 197 girls remain captive, though it is not known how many of them may have died.

The freed girls, the first to be released as a result of government action, are in the custody of the Department of State Services, Nigeria's secret intelligence agency, according to presidential spokesman Garba Shehu.

Their release was negotiated between the government and Boko Haram in talks brokered by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government, he said. Negotiations will continue for the release of the other students, he said.

'We thank the federal government and,

like Oliver Twist, we ask for more.'

— Prof. Hauwa Biu, activist

A military officer familiar with the talks said four detained Boko Haram leaders were released Wednesday night in Banki, a town on the northeast border with Cameroon. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press on the matter. The girls were flown by helicopter to Maiduguri, the northeastern capital of Borno state and birthplace of Boko Haram, he said.

Congratulations to President Buhari, the Red Cross and the Swedish Diplomats involved. None of this could have been accomplished under Buhari's predecessor. It gives us hope that more girls may yet be saved, although, I'm quite sure, none are anywhere close to the same girls they were two years ago.

There is, unfortunately, no indication in this report whether the negotiators were dealing with Abubakar Shekeau's group or Abu Musab al-Barnawi's group. 

"We are extremely delighted and grateful," the Bring Back Our Girls movement said on Facebook. The group, which has campaigned within Nigeria and internationally for the release of the students, said it awaits the names of the released girls.

"We thank the federal government and, like Oliver Twist, we ask for more," said Prof. Hauwa Biu, a women's rights activist in Maiduguri.


Young girls known as Chibok Ambassadors carry placards bearing the names of schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram, during a demonstration, in Abuja, Nigeria in 2015. (Sunday Alamba/Associated Press)

International outrage

Negotiations last year failed when Boko Haram demanded a ransom of $5.2 billion for the girls' freedom, according to a recently published authorized biography of President Muhammadu Buhari by American historian John Paden. It was not clear if any money changed hands in this swap.

The abduction of 276 schoolgirls in April 2014 and the government's failure to quickly free them has caused international outrage and brought Boko Haram, Nigeria's home-grown Islamic extremist group, to the world's attention. Dozens of the girls escaped on their own, but most remain missing.

In May, one of the girls, Amina Ali Nkeki, escaped on her own. Shortly after her release Nkeki told her family that some of the kidnapped girls died of illness and that others, like her, have been married to fighters and are pregnant or already have babies, her mother told the press.

Since then Nkeki has been in the custody of the secret service where she is receiving medical care and trauma counselling, according to the government. Buhari's government has been criticized for keeping her isolated. The Bring Back Our Girls group and Human Rights Watch have asked whether Nkeki now is a detainee of the government.

Nigeria Admits Failed Chibok Girls Swap Deals

Nigeria said it was committed to rescuing the 218 Chibok girls still held captive by Boko Haram (AFP Photo/)

Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria opened negotiations with Boko Haram over the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls last year, but the talks were derailed due to a split in the extremist group, a minister said Friday.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Abuja, information minister Lai Mohammed said the Department of State Services (DSS) started negotiations with the Islamists in July 2015.

In exchange for the girls, who were kidnapped in April 2014 from a school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok, Boko Haram demanded the release of some of its fighters.

Out of the 276 girls kidnapped, scores escaped in the hours after the kidnapping, while another was rescued earlier this year.

Mohammed said that by August 2015 the government was close to clinching the swap deal when Boko Haram issued a new set of demands.

"This development stalled what would have been the first release process of the Chibok girls," Mohammed said.

New talks that began in November were eclipsed by a leadership struggle happening in Boko Haram at the time.

The first signs of a rift appeared after longtime chief Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015 and changed Boko Haram's name to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

By August this year, Abu Musab al-Barnawi -- the son of Boko Haram's founder Mohammed Yusuf -- was appointed head of the group, with recent reports of clashes between rival factions in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, near Lake Chad.

Mohammed said Nigeria was committed to rescuing the remaining 218 Chibok girls still held captive by Boko Haram, who have killed at least 20,000 people in northeast Nigeria in a wave of raids, suicide attacks and bombings since 2009.

"In spite of the current division amongst members of the terrorist group, which has seriously affected efforts to release the girls, renewed efforts have commenced using our trusted assets and facilitators," Mohammed said.

Armed Rape Suspect Hostage Taking incl. 7yo Girl Ends Well

Armed rape suspect in custody after holding hostages

at Burger King in Baltimore incl. 7yo girl

© Eric Thayer / Reuters

Police in Maryland responded to a hostage situation at a Burger King fast-food restaurant on Sunday. A man holding a gun ran into the restaurant and held four people hostages before he was taken into custody hours later.

A seven-year-old girl was among those held captive by the armed suspect, according to Baltimore police.

"No harm has been done to any of [the hostages]," police spokesman T.J. Smith said, adding that a 70-year-old woman was also among those kept captive.

Two people have been first released during the police operation at the scene, according to the police spokesman. The child remained inside the restaurant until negotiations successfully ended, he added.



The gunman is a suspect wanted on a rape charge, Smith said, adding that he fled from police before barricading himself in the restaurant at 1735 Washington Blvd.

The suspect refused to pull over after he had been spotted by officers, according to the police spokesman. The armed man's vehicle also collided with another vehicle, and the man then fled on foot into Burger King.

 There has reportedly been "some tension" between alleged family members of one of the hostages and the police, an eyewitness tweeted. In another post, she wrote she had been told the armed man was a "big... African American."