Although the Nigerian military announced they had launched a man hunt for Boko Haram abductors of 84 Nigerian school girls, desperate  parents who had mounted a search of their own  said they did not come across any Nigerian soldier during the search.

The parents according to agency reports had pooled resources together , to buy fuel for motorcycles and vehicles to help with the search, which took them over 100kms from Chibok, the town of kidnap.

One father said he and others decided to turn back after locals told them the insurgents were nearby and were prepared to slaughter anyone who advanced further.

Nigerian soldiers: No signs of them in Chibok

“If we were armed as they are we would surely go… and face them,” said Enoch Mark, whose daughter and two nieces were among those taken.

Mark and other locals said they had seen no signs of a military build-up and questioned the seriousness of the ongoing rescue mission.

During a nine-hour search on Thursday which extended 100 kilometres (62 miles) outside of Chibok, “we did not come across any soldiers,” Mark said, in an account supported by several other residents.

The military said it had launched a major search and rescue operation, but some in the region say they have lost confidence in the security forces after the defence ministry issued an erroneous report claiming that most of the girls were safe.

That statement, issued late on Wednesday, said all but eight of those abducted were free, but defence spokesman Chris Olukolade was forced to withdraw the report on Friday.

Parents have been scouring the bushland for days looking for the hostages, pooling money to buy fuel for motorcycles and vehicles to help with the search.

One father said he and others decided to turn back after locals told them the insurgents were nearby and were prepared to slaughter anyone who advanced further.

“If we were armed as they are we would surely go… and face them,” said Enoch Mark, whose daughter and two nieces were among those taken.

Mark and other locals said they had seen no signs of a military build-up and questioned the seriousness of the ongoing rescue mission.

During a nine-hour search on Thursday which extended 100 kilometres (62 miles) outside of Chibok, “we did not come across any soldiers,” Mark said, in an account supported by several other residents.

Chibok, in southern Borno, has a sizeable minority Christian population and so many of kidnapped girls were Christian but Muslim students were taken as well.

The military said it had launched a major search and rescue operation, but some in the region say they have lost confidence in the security forces after the defence ministry issued an erroneous report claiming that most of the girls were safe.

That statement, issued late on Wednesday, said all but eight of those abducted were free, but defence spokesman Chris Olukolade was forced to withdraw the report on Friday.