Senator Sani Reveals How Fg Can Rescue Chibok Girls, Says They Are Alive

BEVERLY HILLS, February 25, (THEWILL) – Erstwhile civil society leader turned Senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Shehu Sani has assured that the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in April 2014 will be rescued if only the Federal Government negotiates with some persons.

Sani, who made this known on Wednesday in Akure as one of the discussants at a symposium held as part of the 40th Anniversary of Ondo State and the seventh anniversary of the Olusegun Mimiko-led administration, believes there are indications that the reign of bloodshed by the terrorists in the last seven years was sustained by the greed of a few who profited from the situation.

According to him, “Something that has bothered some of us here in line with the insurgency is, when will the Chibok girls be freed?

“Someone said the Chibok girls will never be free, but I can tell you that they will be free and they are alive.”

While revealing that government must go beyond the use of force into exploring other ways of rescuing the girls, he said: “There are two ways to get them: the first is to use force to free them and before you apply force, you have to know where they are. You also have to weigh the consequences of raiding the camp with such number of persons, because the insurgents have nothing to lose.

“The second option is to explore ways of extracting them out through negotiation and negotiation is still possible.

“There are a few people, not a panel of eminent Nigerians or a panel, there are a few people who the government needs to reach out to,” he said.

The lawmaker further explained that the girls could be rescued in the first instance, because the parties could not make concession.

As leader of a civil society then, Sani had been named as a contact person through which the Nigerian government sought to negotiate with Boko Haram. He later accused the former Goodluck Jonathan government of not showing sufficient commitment to the proposed talks.

Going down memory lane, he said: “They said they were going to free the girls on the condition we freed their people. And when we came to the negotiating table, and the government said it cannot free the terrorists because they have done a lot of harm.”