The Nigerian military, as stated by Badeh, has also ruled out a commando-like rescue out of concern for the safety of the girls. So what is stopping the President from going ahead with the swap offer put before him by Boko Haram? There were insinuations last week that some Nigerian military top brass who are benefitting from increased defence budgets as a result of the worsening insurgency may be sabotaging efforts at peaceful rescue of the girls.

This aside, it is also doubtful if the President and his aides have completely come to terms with the reality of the abduction despite the evidence before them. They believe that the abduction is part of the conspiracy against the President, a southerner, by some northern politicians, to frustrate him from continuing in office beyond 2015; just as they believe the Boko Haram insurgency itself is there to make the country ungovernable by Jonathan. This is in spite of the fact that Boko Haram predates the Jonathan administration, though it has been allowed to fester in the past three years. To try to shift the blame on who was responsible or prove that the abduction was pre-planed, aides and supporters of the President had raised questions on why the school remained open when others had been ordered closed as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency; why the Borno State government failed to abide by the advice of the West African Examinations Council not to hold exams in the school, and why adequate security was not provided for the students among others. All these were on the terms of reference of the committee set up by the President.

Borno State Government has however defended itself with the argument that apart from the school in Chibok, there were five other examination centres in parts of the state, including areas not far from Chibok, that there were used by students. The government also said it informed the state’s Commissioner of Police to provide security for the students among others. Yet, when Okupe was asked if he believed that the students were actually abducted last week, he replied that only God, Governor Kashim Shettima, Borno Commissioner for Education and the principal of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok know the truth about the girls’ abduction.

Apart from government officials, Nigerians have also been divided on the propriety or otherwise of swapping members of the deadly sect, some of whom may have blood in their hands, with the abducted girls, a reflection of the dilemma also confronting the government.

Some government officials are also arguing that giving in to the demand of Boko Haram will make the government seem weak. Senator David Mark, the president of the Senate and one of those believed to have the ears of the President, has persistently argued that government should not negotiate with Boko Haram elements, whom he described as ‘criminals’. He has advocated an all-out military approach to tackling the nuisance of the group since it failed to embrace previous peace offers by government.

Mike Ozekhome, a senior lawyer, however said the lives of the abducted girls should not be wasted on the altar of government’s grandstanding and engagement niceties. According to him, government should not allow itself to be held back by any inhibition if engagement with the terrorists will bring out the girls alive. “There are times when a government stoops to conquer. I dare say that the Federal Government should negotiate even with Satan, if that would bring back our girls. Even Satan would be humbled and diminished by such an unprecedented strategy,” Ozekhome said.

This position was also supported by Shehu Sani, a northern Nigeria-based human rights activist who has been involved in previous efforts to end Boko Haram insurgency. The activist has initiated another initiative to free the abducted girls, using Obasanjo as a front in discussion with the insurgent group. While noting that using force to free the girls may result in tragic consequences, the activist said federal government should embrace the swap offer. “The Federal Government is in a dilemma. Those in government see that negotiation will make the government to be weak. And if they use force, it may turn tragic with Nigerians blaming them. This is why swapping of the girls is an option the government should consider. By now, we would have forgotten this challenge,” Sanni said.

It was also believed that countries like the United States and Britain which have come to help Nigeria in rescuing the girls are not well disposed to the swap arrangement and that this is influencing government’s dithering over the issue. Analysts who described such positions by the foreign countries as hypocritical noted that the developed countries had engaged in such deals at one time or the other. They pointed to the recent United States’ prisoner-swap to free its soldier, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been in the custody of the Taliban in Afghanistan for five years. The American soldier was exchanged for five high-ranking Taliban detainees in US in a deal brokered by the Qatari government. Israel has also at various times exchanged prisoners of war for its citizens in detention of several of its Arab neighbours, including Palestine which can be described as the arch-enemy of the Jewish State. The United Nations recognises the exchange or prisoner swaps between two opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners.

Articles 68 to 74 of the Geneva Convention also recognises exchange of especially prisoners of war among countries and the International Red Cross carried out one of the largest exchange programmes under the Geneva Convention during the Second World War.

However, Femi Falana, former president of West African Bar Association and a senior advocate of Nigeria, argued that the girls should not be exchanged for Boko Haram members since they are not prisoners of war. “They are not soldiers of the Nigerian Army, therefore, there is no lawful ground for such a demand,” he said.

Still, some analysts pointed out that the March 2014 deal between Syria and rebels fighting in the country should be a model for a potential deal by Nigerian government with Boko Haram. The deal saw the rebels releasing a group of Greek Orthodox nuns they had held for three months after being abducted from their convent in a prisoner exchange involving some 150 women and children held by the Syrian government. The deal was negotiated by officials from Qatar and Lebanon.

This magazine gathered that continuous mass slaughter of people in attacks by Boko Haram in the past weeks has also not encouraged government in moving forward with the negotiations to release the girls. The group had in the last two weeks killed over 1,000 people in attacks across the three North-east states.

Last Monday, the group killed no fewer than 300 villagers in three communities around Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State. The insurgent had three days before killed the Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idriss Timta, who was on his way to Gombe alongside Emir of Uba, Alhaji Ismaila Mamza; and Emir of Askira, Alhaji Abdullahi Askirama. The other two traditional rulers were lucky to escape during the attack which also claimed their security details and aides. Suspected Boko Haram militants in another attack in Barderi, near Maiduguri, Borno State, also killed about 45 people. The group seems to relish the international attention the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls has brought to it and is using the opportunity to commit even greater atrocities, said one analyst.

Yet, government said last week that it will still explore all options to secure the release of the girls. This is in spite of the fact that President Jonathan or any of his top aides has not acknowledged the back-channel negotiations with the insurgent group. “The Federal Government is totally committed and focused towards ensuring that our beloved children, kidnapped girls, are returned safe and sound. Therefore, as we said before, all options in line with international best practices are open in this case,” Mike Omeri, the coordinator of the National Information Centre set up by the Federal Government to give regular update on the security operations in the North-east said at a news conference in Abuja