The Release of 21 Chibok girls not based on swap – Lai Mohammed

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The Federal Government has said that the release of the 21 Chibok school girls was never based on swap but on confidence building.The minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this in Abuja at a world press conference held on the latest development on the abducted Chibok Girls.

Contrary to earlier report that the girls were released on swap basis he said the release was secured based on a very delicate negotiation and confidence built over time.

‘‘We can confirm that 21 of the girls were released, safely to us by 5.30 this Thursday morning and they were flown to Kaduna from the location of their release.

This is the most glaring manifestation to date of the unwavering commitment of Mr. President to secure the safe release of the girls and reunite them with their families.

It is also a result of the round-the-clock efforts by the administration to put a closure to the sad issue of the kidnap of the girls. We expect the released girls to land in Abuja shortly.’’

Ahead of their arrival, he said that Federal Government had assembled a team of medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, trauma experts, etc to properly examine the girls, especially because they have been in captivity for so long.

He also disclosed that government will adequately debrief the girls and had started contacting their parents as part of the necessary verification exercise, adding that government will release the names to the public as soon as the verification is concluded.