The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this on Tuesday in Yola, Adamawa State
He gave an assurance that the negotiations for the release of the girls in captivity were ongoing and that it had not been stalled as being speculated.
The minister spoke at a briefing at the Air Force Base in Yola to conclude a day and night rounds of search of the missing girls in Sambisa Forest.
Mohammed, the Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Mansur Dan-Alli (retd.); the convener of the BringBackOurGirls group, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, and some selected local and foreign journalists participated in the search mission.
The minister, who was ecstatic about the success of the trip, said that the gains recorded by the military in the theatre of war was helping the negotiation because of the carrot and stick approach the Federal Government had adopted to end insurgency.
He recalled that a meeting was recently held, which he said, was a near success, adding that the government would not rest on its oars in ensuring a safe return of all the missing girls and others in captivity.
Though he said that there were factions among the Boko Haram hierarchy, he expressed optimism that the negotiations would be successful.
He said, “The negotiations are still on, but unfortunately unlike the search operations, we cannot take you along to the negotiation table.
“I want to assure you that these serious negotiations are going on but they are very complicated and delicate and shift from time to time.’’
The minister commended the military for the victories recorded in various operations at decimating the insurgents particularly in Sambisa Forest.
Mohammed noted that the capture of Camp Zairo in Sambisa, which is the headquarters and stronghold of the insurgents, was very crucial to defeating the terrorists.
He also stressed that the proportion of the camp to the size of the forest notwithstanding, the capture was a big victory for the military.
He likened the capture of the camp to the sacking of a government from its seat of power.
He said, “Camp Zairo might occupy probably one kilometre out of 60,000 kilometres expanse of Sambisa, but it is so crucial to us in this war.
“It is like imagining that there is a war and the Villa is captured. That is the essence of Camp Zairo.
“It is not the extent of physical expanse but that we struck at the very heart of insurgency and it does not mean the end of the campaign in Sambisa Forest.’’
Mohammed commended the members of the Nigerian Air Force for their professionalism and for deployment of modern technology in their operations.
He praised the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar, “for initiating the search mission,” adding that it served its objective of participating and better understanding of the efforts of the military in fighting insurgency.
Abubakar said, “First and foremost, the enemy does not have air assets and we take training very seriously.
“We do everything possible to ensure capacity development of our pilots and we make judicious use of the personnel that are on ground.’’
He thanked the minister, the BBOG delegation, journalists and others that participated in the exercise.
In her remarks, Ezekwesili asked the government to consider the issue of negotiations with the members of the sect if that would lead to the girls’ release.
She said, “The Federal Government should be able to tell the nation what it is doing on negotiations. It is this negotiation that led to the release of 21 girls while four came back on their own or were seeing among those rescued. What then is the hope of the remaining 195 girls and others?”
She also called for the prosecution of all those that were involved in the misappropriation of funds meant for the fight against Boko Haram.
“They must be punished for bringing us to this level. They must be punished to serve as deterrent to others,” the former minister of education added.
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