Nigerian Girls Will Not Be Traded For Boko Haram Prisoners
The kidnapped Nigerian girls will not be traded for Boko Haram prisoners according to officials in England.
In a related report by The Inquisitr, the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Sheka says, “Allah commands me to sell them.” But the interesting part about that claim is how when a video showed the Nigerian girls praying to Allah, the terrorist group claimed they all converted to Islam.
Fortunately, at least some of the Nigerian girls managed to escape, but she says the others stayed because of the death threats:
“I am pained that my other colleagues could not summon the courage to run away with me. Now I cry each time I come across their parents and see how they weep when they see me.”
The United States put a $7 million price on Shekau’s head and a campaign using the phrase “bring back our girls” has attempted to push for more direct action. Great Britain, which formerly held Nigeria as a colony, and the United States both have put top military, law enforcement, and intelligence operatives on the ground in Nigeria to search for the girls.
Then, instead of selling the Nigerian girls into slavery, Boko Haram offered to trade the schoolgirls for prisoners that are part of their terrorist group. Britain’s Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds says that Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan will reject that idea:
“He (Jonathan) made it very clear that there would be no negotiations with Boko Haram that involved a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners. What he also made very clear to me was that he wanted his government to continue a dialogue to make sure a solution could be found and that security and stability could return to northern Nigeria for the medium and the long term.”
Unfortunately, attempts at finding the Nigerian girls has met with resistance. Military troops engaged several insurgents in a firefight, and multiple people lost their lives on both sides.
Do you think that Boko Haram prisoners should have been traded for the Nigerian girls?
[Image via Art Festival Blog]
