Military Narrows Down Location of Chibok Girls to Sambisa Forest, Chad-Niger Border
Wed Apr 27, 2016 11:47:am National
2.4K By sosa hills
The military authorities have affirmed that they have vital information on the locations of the abducted Chibok school girls.
The 219 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State, were kidnapped from their hostels by Boko Haram militants on April 14, 2014.
The military authorities said that the girls are in two locations in the Sambisa Forest and the Chad Niger borders.
The latest information on the missing girls came from the Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major Gen. Leo Irabor.
Irabor, who spoke on the Cable News Network (CNN) on Tuesday, hinted that the abducted Chibok girls were being held in Sambisa Forest and a location close to the Chad Niger border.
The Commander, in a CNN report on the ongoing counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations by the Nigerian Armed Forces, said military intelligence indicated that the abducted girls were still being held in Sambisa Forest, which still remains a stronghold of the terrorists.
His explanations may have confirmed the military's earlier claims that there is the possibility that most of the girls are still alive.
According to Maj.-Gen. Irabor, the intelligence surrounding the current location of the Chibok girls points to the Sambisa corridor. He said that there was a need for more international support.
He said: "The question of the Chibok girls remains a sore point in our history. The biometrics, as it were, of the Chibok girls, are not known to us. Those are the issues which I believe are among the challenges. We think, from the intelligence available to us, that the remaining areas that we are working to move into are where the Chibok girls are being held."
The Commander maintained that while his forces continue to advance in the Sambisa Forest, they are also getting other leads on the whereabouts of the girls.
"It's a belief, but beyond that, we're also getting some intelligence that they may be somewhere on the Niger-Lake Chad border areas," he said.
"We are working assiduously so that all of them are rescued and brought back to live in their communities.
"I think that the light is beginning to shine and in a short while we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel," Irabor said.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) have warned farmers in the North East to beware of landmines when going to their farms because the Boko Haram terrorists have devised a new tactics of laying land mines on stretches of farm lands.
The DHQ also alerted residents of the North East that the terrorists have introduced a new way of attacking their victims using horses.
In a statement by the Defence spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, the DHQ said:
"It is also instructive to alert the public that terrorists now operate with horses to carry out attacks on isolated villages and communities along fringes of our borders in the North East.
A recent attack using horses readily comes to mind in this regard.
"These latest tactics of the terrorists is a grand design to cause fear and panic among the farmers as well as the local populace. The security forces will continue to be on their trail until they are completely flushed out of our country," the statement noted.
Also yesterday, the Nigerian Army said that the insurgents have adopted subtle means of easily identifying themselves through a new uniform for its members.
The new uniform, according to a statement by the Army Spokesman, Sani Usman, include the use of green clothes and ropes on their legs and necks.
Two terrorists have so far been arrested by the troops of the Nigerian Army in their new dress code.
The 219 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State, were kidnapped from their hostels by Boko Haram militants on April 14, 2014.
The military authorities said that the girls are in two locations in the Sambisa Forest and the Chad Niger borders.
The latest information on the missing girls came from the Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major Gen. Leo Irabor.
Irabor, who spoke on the Cable News Network (CNN) on Tuesday, hinted that the abducted Chibok girls were being held in Sambisa Forest and a location close to the Chad Niger border.
The Commander, in a CNN report on the ongoing counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations by the Nigerian Armed Forces, said military intelligence indicated that the abducted girls were still being held in Sambisa Forest, which still remains a stronghold of the terrorists.
His explanations may have confirmed the military's earlier claims that there is the possibility that most of the girls are still alive.
According to Maj.-Gen. Irabor, the intelligence surrounding the current location of the Chibok girls points to the Sambisa corridor. He said that there was a need for more international support.
He said: "The question of the Chibok girls remains a sore point in our history. The biometrics, as it were, of the Chibok girls, are not known to us. Those are the issues which I believe are among the challenges. We think, from the intelligence available to us, that the remaining areas that we are working to move into are where the Chibok girls are being held."
The Commander maintained that while his forces continue to advance in the Sambisa Forest, they are also getting other leads on the whereabouts of the girls.
"It's a belief, but beyond that, we're also getting some intelligence that they may be somewhere on the Niger-Lake Chad border areas," he said.
"We are working assiduously so that all of them are rescued and brought back to live in their communities.
"I think that the light is beginning to shine and in a short while we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel," Irabor said.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) have warned farmers in the North East to beware of landmines when going to their farms because the Boko Haram terrorists have devised a new tactics of laying land mines on stretches of farm lands.
The DHQ also alerted residents of the North East that the terrorists have introduced a new way of attacking their victims using horses.
In a statement by the Defence spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, the DHQ said:
"It is also instructive to alert the public that terrorists now operate with horses to carry out attacks on isolated villages and communities along fringes of our borders in the North East.
A recent attack using horses readily comes to mind in this regard.
"These latest tactics of the terrorists is a grand design to cause fear and panic among the farmers as well as the local populace. The security forces will continue to be on their trail until they are completely flushed out of our country," the statement noted.
Also yesterday, the Nigerian Army said that the insurgents have adopted subtle means of easily identifying themselves through a new uniform for its members.
The new uniform, according to a statement by the Army Spokesman, Sani Usman, include the use of green clothes and ropes on their legs and necks.
Two terrorists have so far been arrested by the troops of the Nigerian Army in their new dress code.
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