A hostage negotiator in direct contact with the kidnappers of
more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria tells Channel 4 News
their safe release is "within reach", but that their fate rests
on a knife-edge.
The girls, we believe, are alive but they have been moved
from the location to which they were originally taken," the
intermediary told Channel 4 News. "It would not be hard to
engineer a deal. It looks like they want to release them."
The kidnappers have warned, however, that attempts by the
military to launch a rescue attempt "may result in the deaths
of many of the captives".
They want a way out," said the negotiator, who has long
experience of dealing directly with the Islamist group Boko Haram
in previous hostage crises.
Boko Haram translates as "western education is forbidden" and,
like the Taliban, the group opposes the education of Muslim girls,
particularly if that education has western influence.
Even though most of the kidnapped teenagers are from Christian
families, the intermediary says the group believes it has already
succeeded in embarrassing the government and instilling terror in
the civilian population.
Fate undecided
However splinter factions within the fractious group are
understood to be arguing over what to do with their hostages.
"The danger now is that the military will get involved and that can
only end badly," he said.
Past kidnappings by the al-Qaeda inspired jihadist group, which is
fighting for a strict sharia state in northern Nigeria, have ended
with the execution of hostages as a result of attempted military
intervention.
The hostage-takers have now been asked for a list of the girls'
names as proof-of-life. The negotiator - who wanted to remain
anonymous for reasons of personal security - said the group is
demanding a ransom but added: "we are hoping they will soften
their stance".
The Islamist insurgents abducted 273 girls, aged 16 to 18, from
dormitories at the Chibok Girls' Secondary School in Chibok,
Borno state, a fortnight ago. Around 40 girls reportedly escaped
early on. The numbers of those originally kidnapped - and those
still held captive - has been in dispute. Last week, the missing
girls' parents insisted that government figures had dramatically
underestimated the number held.
The school's headteacher, Mrs Asabe Kwambura, told Channel 4
News on Tuesday that a further 10 girls had since been
"recovered". "For now, the total number of girls we have recovered
is 53 while 220 girls are still missing," said Mrs Kwambura.
The abductors, who have been in intermittent contact with the
intermediary over the past 48 hours, claim to have released "a
number of hostages" because "they did shehada" - meaning
forcible conversion to Islam, a hallmark tactic of Boko Haram.
Channel 4 News has also established that the schoolgirls are not
being held in the group's notorious bush camps in the Sambisa
forest, an area 50 miles to the south east of the Borno state
capital, Maiduguri. This region has reportedly been the focus of
Nigerian military activity in recent days.
Instead, the hostages have, we understand, been split into smaller
separate groups, a number of whom have been taken close to - or
across - Nigeria's eastern border with Cameroon. This is an area
from which Mohammed Nur, one of Boko Haram's leading
commanders is known to operate.
"They have a problem," the intermediary said. "They have 220
captives and moving that many around cannot remain hidden.
There is good, reliable, local knowledge as to their location. The
military knows where they are."
The relocation of the teenage hostages has been corroborated by
a senior community leader in Chibok, the town from which they
were abducted. Dr Pogu Bitrus told Channel 4 News that he too
has learned that following the kidnapping, many of the girls were
forcibly converted and some then married off in neighbouring
Cameroon. He did not cite his sources.
"Many were taken to the northern part of Borno state and then
moved across into the Republic of Cameroon," he said. "After they
converted to Islam, they were forcibly married off with a bride
price of just 2,000 Naira [less than £10]." Dr Bitrus believes some
of the girls do still remain in Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa
forest. "The federal government must act fast" to avoid them
suffering the same fate, he added.
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