Boko Haram is ready to release some of the 200 or so girls captured in April, and says they are not being sexually assaulted while in captivity. 276 girls were captured from their boarding school and several dozen escaped, some jumping from the truck as it drove.
The terrorist organisation met with Nigerian government officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross last month to try to negotiate the release of the captured schoolgirls, but the releases have yet to come to fruition.
Boko Haram wants the Nigerian government to release one militant prisoner for each girl they exchange, initially requesting the release of 30 prisoners for 30 of the girls. The government says no way. It makes sense, if this is how things are then Boko Haram could capture random civilians whenever they felt like it and use them as ransom for the release of terrorists.
‘The two Boko Haram negotiators assured the ICRC and government negotiators that the girls were never raped, were never used as sex slaves and were never sexually assaulted,’ a source told CNN. Previous reports say some of the girls were married off or sold.
Boko Haram, which opposes the education of women, wanted to meet the 30 members it’s demanding the release of, but were only in touch with six of them. The Red Cross weren’t able to find out where the other 24 are being held.
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.