UNVEILED: Full story of how 21 Chibok girls were rescued

– The full story of how the 21 Chibok girls were released has been revealed

– According to reports, negotiations began with a small team in 2014 whose plans initially failed

  Premium Times reports that the release of the 21 Chibok girls which took place on Thursday, October 13, was as a result of a negotiation by a team which assembled two years ago.

  During Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the key actors in the team made a first attempt to negotiate with the Boko Haram sect around July 2014.
  These key actors include: Mustapha Zanna, a lawyer, Shehu Sani, who is now a senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district and the Nigerian Army, then led by Kenneth Minimah.

Others include Fred Eno who also a human rights activist, the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which was called in to play an unbiased middle-man.

  However, Senator Sani started the negotiation process when he reached out to the Swiss government through its embassy who linked them to Mr Zanah who then connected the Swiss authorities and the ICRC in the process.

Also, former president Goodluck Jonathan appointed Ijaw national leader, Edwin Clark, to link with the team and Nigerian government. With this in place, the team almost succeeded in the release of the girls in 2014 but later fell through due to the manner in which the past administration handled the matter.

  After its failure, Messrs Sani, Eno and Clark moved on to other things but other members of the team were hopeful and kept exploring possible options.
  A source told Premium Times: “It boils down, basically, to three key issues: inflexibility and lack of realism on the part of the insurgent forces; lack of support for a negotiated settlement to the insurgency on the part of security forces; and what appears to be government’s acceptance that the security forces were right,”
“The president desperately wanted the girls released, but politics of positioning stood in the way of progress,” Mr. Eno said.

Later on, using the existing line which was initially established, the State Security Service (SSS) led a fresh negotiation with the team although the Nigerian military was left out.
  They were left out after the insurgents said they did not want to be involved with the military after their members and some Chibok girls had been killed in midair bombardments.

  The SSS was therefore asked to lead the negotiation and provide essential support After a deal had been struck, the Red Cross was called in to meet the leadership of the sect as well as sight the girls whereby date and location was decided for the girls to be released.
  According to some officials, on Wednesday, October 14, the military was called upon to deploy some of its men to Banki, a border town in Bama, Borno State, to pick up the 21 girls, The girls were released at 5:30 am on Thursday and immediately flown to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in a chopper.

  Meanwhile, the minister of information, culture and tourism, Las Muhammed, denied claims that the recent release of the 21 Chibok girls was not a swap for some terrorists.

  He also said the release of the girls is the effort of the federal government to Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari to safe rescue. His comments sparked speculations that a ransom might have been paid but presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina debunked the claims.
  But Sahara reporters claimed that the captured Chibok girls were released after a prisoner swap with the Nigerian government.