ICC Note:
According to John Campbell, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, the Nigerian government is in talks with senior Boko Haram commanders to negotiate the release of the more than 215 schoolgirls reportedly still being held captive following their mass-abduction by the radical Islamic insurgency in April of this year. Those talks are scheduled to resume following the Muslim holiday of Eid, set for October 4th. Reportedly, Boko Haram has agreed to release 30 girls (15 Christian, 15 Muslim) in exchange for a number of senior Boko Haram commanders currently in custody.
09/28/2014 Nigeria (Council on Foreign Relations) – The Nation is carrying credible reports of negotiations between the Jonathan administration and Boko Haram that would swap the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls for nineteen Boko Haram “commanders.” The negotiations will resume after the Eid-el-Kabir holiday, October 4. The sticking point appears to be that Boko Harm wants to release thirty girls — fifteen Christians, fifteen Muslims – to test Abuja’s commitment while the government is insisting that all of the girls be released at once.
According to The Nation, the government’s negotiating team is led by Shehu Sani, the president of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, “a former Minister of Information,” and a Geneva-based human rights activist. Boko Haram has a two man delegation. In addition, there are two other participants, identified as “close to the sect’s leadership,” and a “Peoples Democratic Party leader.”
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