President
Muhammadu Buhari has expressed optimism on the release of more of the kidnapped
Chibok girls, after 21 of them were freed by Boko Haram Thursday, following
more than two years of captivity.
Speaking at a joint
press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Berlin,
President Buhari said negotiations will continue until all the girls secure
their freedom.
“On the Chibok girls,
we have been able to secure the release of 21 of them, so over 100 more are
still in the hands of the terrorists somewhere in the Lake Chad Basin area
which include Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
“In getting this 21
out, we hope we will get enough intelligence to go about securing the rest of
them.
“We are very grateful
to the UN for their participation in trying to secure the release of these
girls.
“Please don’t forget
that as a result of terrorism in Nigeria, no fewer than 37,000 Nigerians were
killed by Boko Haram.
“Right now we have
about 2 million people in IDP camps, 60 per cent of them are women and children
and 60 per cent of those children are orphaned.
“This is a major
challenge for government; we have to provide infrastructure especially for
education and health, take them back to their villages and towns and
reintegrate them so that they can have normal life,” he said.
The
president thanked the German government for their humanitarian assistance and
support for Nigeria in dealing with the effects of terrorism.
Responding to a
question on the BBC interview with his wife, Aisha, the president said his wife
and the opposition needed to appreciate the depth of the problems he met on the
ground.
He caused laughter at
the press conference when he said: “I claim superior knowledge compared to her
and the opposition,” referring to his three attempts at the polls to become
president of Nigeria over a 12-year period, succeeding in the fourth attempt.
He also said; “I don’t
know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my
living room and the other room”.
-Premium Times
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