ICC Note: A former British ambassador to Nigeria claims the United Kingdom (U.K.), and United States (U.S.) knew where the Chibok girls were at one point and failed to attempt to rescue them because of the risk a rescue attempt would present to the girls’ safety. Dr. Andrew Pocock claims the two countries possessed intelligence locating the girls to a spot in the Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram maintained a hideout, but feared that any rescue operation might result in the murder of the girls or Boko Haram fighters using them as human shields. On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram stormed a government school in Chibok, Nigeria, abducting nearly 300 teenage girls who are mostly Christians, sparking off the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign that rallied the world to call for their release. Since then, more than 200 remain missing.
By Raliat Ahmed-Yusuf
3/21/16 Nigeria (AllAfrica) – The former British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Andrew Pocock, has disclosed that the United States and the United Kingdom knew the whereabouts of about 80 of abducted Chibok girls by Boko Haram but failed to launch a rescue mission.
Pocock further claimed that a large group of the missing girls were spotted by the UK and the US surveillance officials shortly after their disappearance but experts felt nothing could be done.
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