SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Brig-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali (retd), has drawn a similarity between the inability to find the missing Chibok girls despite the retaking of territories hitherto occupied by Boko Haram terrorists, and the efforts of the United States, U.S, to find Osama bin Laden after the invasion of Afghanistan.
Speaking in an interview with VOA’s Hausa service, monitored in Yola, on Tuesday, he pointed out that it could take years before all the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents can be rescued.
The terrorists had on April 14, 2014 kidnapped the 276 students from a government secondary school in the north-eastern town of Chibok, Borno State. About 195 of the girls are still missing and are believed to be in the custody of insurgents, whose activities have caused the death of about 100,000 people since 2009.
“It took the U.S. up to seven, eight, up to 10 years before they could get to bin Laden,” the Minister said, adding that “We are continuing our campaign in the Sambisa Forest in all its nooks and corners”.
Dan-Ali stated that the military was committed to finding the girls and is combing Boko Haram hideouts in the vast Sambisa forest, which covers parts of three states in north-eastern part of Nigeria.
