Nigeria announces deal with Boko Haram to free abducted girls
Reuters
2014-10-17
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STORY: Nigeria said on Friday it had agreed to a ceasefire with Islamist Boko Haram militants and reached a deal for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the group six months ago.
There was no immediate confirmation from the rebels, who have wreaked five years of havoc in Africa's top oil producer and triggered an international outcry by seizing the girls from the northeast town of Chibok in April.
Government spokesman Mike Omeri said the deal covered the release of the captives and Boko Haram had given assurances "that the schoolgirls and all other people in their captivity are all alive and well".
Their release would be a huge boost for President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an election next year and has been pilloried at home and abroad for his slow response to the kidnapping and his inability to quell the violence, the biggest security threat to Africa's biggest economy.
Apart from one appearance on a
STORY: Nigeria said on Friday it had agreed to a ceasefire with Islamist Boko Haram militants and reached a deal for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the group six months ago.
There was no immediate confirmation from the rebels, who have wreaked five years of havoc in Africa's top oil producer and triggered an international outcry by seizing the girls from the northeast town of Chibok in April.
Government spokesman Mike Omeri said the deal covered the release of the captives and Boko Haram had given assurances "that the schoolgirls and all other people in their captivity are all alive and well".
Their release would be a huge boost for President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces an election next year and has been pilloried at home and abroad for his slow response to the kidnapping and his inability to quell the violence, the biggest security threat to Africa's biggest economy.
Apart from one appearance on a
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