Nigeria's Military Chiefs & President Split Over How To Rescue Kidnapped Schoolgirls
Nigeria's military chiefs and the president are apparently split over how to free over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram Islamic sect, Fox News has reported.
The military says use of force endangers the hostages and the president reportedly has ruled out a prisoner-hostage swap.
The defense chief, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, announced Monday night that the military has located the girls, but offered no details or a way forward. "We can't go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back," he said.
Previous military attempts to free hostages have led to the prisoners being killed by their abductors, including the deaths of two engineers, a Briton and an Italian, in Sokoto in March 2012.
A human rights activist close to mediators who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said a swap of detained extremists for the girls was negotiated a week ago but fell through because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to consider an exchange.
Meanwhile, suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed 54 people in two separate attacks in northeastern Nigeria, local officials said Tuesday.
In Borno state gunmen killed nine people in two remote villages on Monday night, said Nglamuda Ibrahim a local government official.
The armed men shot at villagers, burned their homes and hoisted white flags with Arabic letters, the official said.
In a separate attack gunmen killed 24 soldiers and 21 policemen in an attack on a military barracks in Buni Yadi town on Monday night, said police constable Abdullahi Mohammed in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state.
The military says use of force endangers the hostages and the president reportedly has ruled out a prisoner-hostage swap.
The defense chief, Air Marshal Alex Badeh, announced Monday night that the military has located the girls, but offered no details or a way forward. "We can't go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back," he said.
Previous military attempts to free hostages have led to the prisoners being killed by their abductors, including the deaths of two engineers, a Briton and an Italian, in Sokoto in March 2012.
A human rights activist close to mediators who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said a swap of detained extremists for the girls was negotiated a week ago but fell through because President Goodluck Jonathan refused to consider an exchange.
Meanwhile, suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed 54 people in two separate attacks in northeastern Nigeria, local officials said Tuesday.
In Borno state gunmen killed nine people in two remote villages on Monday night, said Nglamuda Ibrahim a local government official.
The armed men shot at villagers, burned their homes and hoisted white flags with Arabic letters, the official said.
In a separate attack gunmen killed 24 soldiers and 21 policemen in an attack on a military barracks in Buni Yadi town on Monday night, said police constable Abdullahi Mohammed in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state.
Nigeria's Military Chiefs & President Split Over How To Rescue Kidnapped Schoolgirls
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