Rescuing remaining Chibok girls may take years- Defence minister

Minister of Defence, Gen. Mansur Dan Ali (rtd), says it may take years to find the remaining kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.

The girls numbering about 276 were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14, 2014 from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.

While 57 of them managed to escape, three were found, and 21 released after the sect struck a deal with the Federal Government, leaving a total of 195 still missing.

Speaking with the Hausa service of Voice of America (VOA), Dan Ali said the army had continued its search of the girls in the vast Sambisa forest.

“It took the US up to seven, eight, up to 10 years before they could get to Bin Laden. We are continuing our campaigning in the Sambisa forest in all its nooks and corners,” he said.

Also speaking to VOA, Nuru Khalid, a Sheikh and member of the influential Inter-faith group, said the country could not afford to allow the Boko Haram insurgents win the war.

“We can never allow the terrorists to win the war. If they got [away] free with those girls, then they have relatively won the war,” Khalid said.