Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari said that his office would negotiate for the release of 110 girls abducted from a school in the northeastern town of Dapchi in February. The decision was opted instead of a military operation to rescue the girls which would likely put the girls at risk.
The kidnapping is one of the largest since the jihadist group Boko Haram abducted more than 270 schoolgirls from the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014. Some of the Chibok girls have been freed after what security sources say were ransom payments; around 100 are still being held.
Buhari further maintained that they had sought the help of international organizations and negotiators to facilitate the of return of the girls. He said that as he tours the region and the area where the girls were kidnapped.
Nigeria is grappling with an insurgency by Boko Haram that has killed at least 20,000 people since 2009.
