Nigeria negotiates for release of Chibok girls

Today marks the third anniversary of the kidnapping of 276 girls from a secondary school by militant group Boko Haram in 2014.

Members of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign hold a rally on January 8, 2017, in Nigeria's capital Abuja, to mark 1,000 days since 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their secondary school in Chibok by Boko Haram, Nigeria.
TRT World and Agencies

Members of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign hold a rally on January 8, 2017, in Nigeria's capital Abuja, to mark 1,000 days since 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their secondary school in Chibok by Boko Haram, Nigeria.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said his government is in negotiations for the release of the Chibok girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014.

Buhari made the statement a day before the third anniversary of the kidnapping of 276 girls from a secondary school in Chibok by the militant group.

More than 20 girls were released in October in a deal brokered by the International Red Cross.

Others have escaped or been rescued, but at least 195 are believed to still be in captivity.

"We have reached out to their captors, through local and international intermediaries, and we are ever ready to do everything within our means to ensure the safe release of all the girls," Buhari said.

The use of kidnapped children as suicide bombers by Boko Haram has surged this year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.

The militants have killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than two million.

TRT World's Sophia Adengo reports from Abuja.

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