President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday expressed delight over the release of 21 Chibok schoolgirls by the Boko Haram sect.
Malam Garba Shehu, the president’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, made the development known on his twitter handle on Thursday.
He said that the president, however, cautioned “Nigerians to be mindful of the fact that more than 30,000 fellow citizens were killed via terrorism.’’
According to him, the release of the girls, in a limited number, is the outcome of negotiations between the Federal Government and the Boko Haram sect.
Shehu said the negotiations were brokered by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the Swiss Government and added that the negotiations would continue.
He said the released girls would soon be handed over to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo by the Department of State Service.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had solicited the assistance of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in negotiations with Boko Haram for the release of the girls.
In May, one of the over 200 girls kidnapped from their school dormitory on April 14, 2014., escaped from their captors with her baby. (NAN)