Buhari To Swap Boko Haram Detainees With Chibok Girls

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said that his government was ready to exchange Boko Haram detainees with the over 200 abducted Chibok girls.

He made this known through his media aide Garba Shehu while granting press interview on the sideline of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development holding in Nairobi, Kenya.

He however said his administration would only enter into discussions on the girls with the authentic leaders of the sect who are free to contact the Federal Government through internationally-recognised Non-Governmental Organisation.

He said, “I have made a couple of comments on the Chibok girls and it seems to me that much of it has been politicised. What we said is that the government which I preside over is prepared to talk to bona fide leaders of Boko Haram.

“If they do not want to talk to us directly, let them pick an internationally recognised Non-Governmental Organisation, convince them that they are holding the girls and that they want Nigeria to release a number of Boko Haram leaders in detention, which they are supposed to know.

“If they do it through the ‘modified leadership’ of Boko Haram and they talk with an internationally recognised NGO, then Nigeria will be prepared to discuss for their release.”

“We want those girls out and safe. The faster we can recover them and hand them over to their parents, the better for us”.