Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt- Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Monday, September 21, 2015 assured Nigerians that the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in April 2014 would be rescued safely.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, Buratai said the safe return of the girls remained a top priority of the military as part of its operations in the North East.
Buratai also availed that there were indications that the girls were being held somewhere within Sambisa Forest, but that their exact location could not be ascertained.
Buratai said: “The issue of the Chibok girls is very crucial, we are making all efforts to clear the terrorists and after clearing them we rescue the Chibok girls in one piece.
“I believe that the girls must be somewhere within the general area of the forest, but we are not yet sure exactly where they are.
“As soon as this is confirmed, we will attempt to see what we can do to bring them back in one piece, it is very crucial because their safety is very important.
“They could be somewhere else, so we are taking this issue in piecemeal so that we are sure of where we are and how we are going about it and we believe that we can find a solution to it very soon.
“It (rescue) is not an issue of the Army alone, it is a collective issue, the Air Force is there, also working very hard; the Department of State Service is also working very hard on this issue; our main concern is to provide the ground support to ensure that we do it very well.
“By and large there is progress”
