The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday, said the Federal Government was yet to resolve the issue of six out of the 111 girls abducted from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, and negotiating Leah Sharibu’s release.
He said while the insurgents responsible for the abduction had returned 105 girls, the government has been asking them daily what happened to five girls. He said the government had also been asking what is delaying the release of Leah Sharibu who was reported to have been denied freedom because of her refusal to deny her faith.
Mohammed gave the clarification while answering questions from State House correspondents at the end of the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Although five of the girls were reported to have died in captivity, the minister said the government needed to be informed of their fate formally.
He, however, admitted that the process of negotiation with insurgents is tortuous and complicated.This notwithstanding, the minister said the government was not leaving Sharibu to her fate.
The terrorists had since February 19 kept Sharibu when she was abducted alongside her schoolmates. Sharibu, whose 15th birthday was marked by her family on Monday, was not released along with her mates one month after the kidnapping because she reportedly rejected the demand of her abductors to denounce her faith and become a Muslim.