How Buhari ensured release of schoolgirls through ‘back-channel’ – Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government on Wednesday revealed the role President Muhammadu Buhari played in the release of the abducted schoolgirls from the Government Girls Science School in Dapchi, Yobi State.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed said the “directive by the President to all security agencies to do everything possible to secure the release of the girls” abducted on February 19, 2018, “yielded fruits in the early hours of Wednesday.”

In a statement signed and sent by his spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi, Mohammed “confirmed the release of 76 of the 110 abducted students in the early hours of Wednesday.”

He also assured that the release of the remaining abducted students was ongoing.

He said the girls were, “released around 3am through back-channel efforts and with the help of some friends of the country, and that it

was unconditional.

”For the release to work, the government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could
endanger the lives of the girls, hence a non-violent approach was the preferred option.

”Within the period when the girls were being brought back, operational pause was observed in certain areas to ensure free passage and also that lives were not lost,” Alhaji Mohammed said.