Boko Haram May Swap Kidnapped Chibok Students For Jailed Sect Members

Boko Haram militants plan to use abducted GGSS Chibok female students as ‘bargaining chips’ to free detained comrades rather than kill the hostages, a former mediator, Shehu Sani, revealed.A Northern-based human rights activist and the leader of the National Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, told in an interview with the Telegraph (UK) that kidnapped girls may be used for prisoner swap.

* Shehu Sani (right) at Kaduna Procession #BringBackOurGirls on May 1, 2014. Photo credit – @abubakar47i

Sani, who has experience in direct negotiations with the Islamist sect, based his declarations on the details he saw in the latest Boko Haram video.

While parents saw a bad omen in Shekau’s words, and the whole world got furious over his threats to “sell them as slaves” in the market, Sani identified the message as a hidden attempt to reach out for a trade with the Federal Government:

“From my knowledge of the group, to have him saying that he will sell them is proof that this issue can be resolved. The group is most likely to want to attach some kind of conditions to the girls being released, such as the freeing of some of their own prisoners.”

* Most deadly Boko Haram attacks in the North East over the past month. Source – Dailymail
It would be noted that Comrade Shehu Sani in February 2014 suggested gathering a contact committee and Islamic sects’ leaders’ dialogue committee in order to end insurgency in the country. In his recent statement Sani urged President Goodluck Jonathan, other political stakeholders, including the PDP and the APC, to stop playing politics with insurgency.