Chibok Girls Release Looms

The hopes and aspirations of Nigerians have once again been given a facial lift as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, remain positive that the release of the abducted chibok schoolgirls. looms.

 Buratai gave this indication  while fielding questions from newsmen on the sideline of the Chief of Army Staff third quarter conference held at Army Headquarters, Abuja.

He assured Nigerians that the safety of the girls remained a topmost priority in the ongoing onslaught against insurgency in the country most especially the North -East where most of the attention is based. Stating that they were strong indications the girls is still been held within the periphery of forest Sambisa. He however noted that a pin point location in the forest is yet to be ascertained as the military is mindful of their safety to securing their release.

“The issue of the Chibok girls is very crucial, we are making all efforts to clear the terrorists and after clearing them we rescue the Chibok girls in one piece. “I believe that the girls must be somewhere within the general area of the forest, but we are not yet sure exactly where they are.

“As soon as this is confirmed, we will attempt to see what we can do to bring them back in one piece, it is very crucial because their safety is very important. “They could be somewhere else, so we are taking this issue in piecemeal so that we are sure of where we are and how we are going about it and we believe that we can find a solution to it very soon.

“It (rescue) is not issue of the Army alone, it is a collective issue, the Air Force is there, also working very hard; the Department of State Service is also working very hard on this issue; our main concern is to provide the ground support to ensure that we do it very well.

The COAS who was optimistic that the military will do her best to key into President Muhammadu Buhari's call to end Terrorism in the land stated in clear terms that success is non- negotiable.

On the issue of the recent audio clip released by the fundamentalist group, the COAS refers to it as  'another desperate move by the group to find relevance.’

“ Have you seen any of them coming out apart from the suicide bombings? You can see the number of terrorists that are escaping from their camps; he is just making noise to remain relevant.'' He however assure the people of Maiduguri to stay calm as modalities are in place to restore sanity stating that the Sunday bomb blast has provided another clue in knowing their the operational areas of the sect.

“Sunday’s bomb blast will be among those that will be the last, you can be counting them, it has opened up another window where we can now focus where these attacks are coming from.

“It will not be possible for them to penetrate other areas; for now we have knocked them off areas along from Yobe and some parts of Borno. “Immediately this incident happened yesterday, I gave directive and we will comb that area thoroughly to identify where they are operating from,’’ he stated.

Buratai further urged field commanders to imbibe the 'change mantra' of the presidents in their units and formation in a bid to quickly transform the Army in consonants with the present dispensation.