As Troops Intensify Sambisa Forest Search, Boko Haram Changes Location Of Abducted Girls

soldiers-As the Nigerian military begins a massive combing of the dreaded Sambisa Forest in a bid to rescue about 191 female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, abducted 13 days ago, it has been disclosed that the Boko Haram gunmen have also changed tactic in a bid to avoid detection.

It was learnt that the heavy deployment of troops around the forest has also made the insurgents continuously change location with the abducted girls.

A resident of Bale village in the neighborhood of Sambisa Forest, confirmed that there was increased deployment of troops in the area some days ago and heavy gunshots were heard coming from inside the forest.

Confirming the development on phone yesterday to LEADERSHIP Sunday, Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said, “Yes, you got your gist right; we are closing in on the insurgents. We are doing everything within our powers to rescue the abducted girls and return them to their parents safely. As you know, what makes the operation very delicate is the safety of the girls; we want them rescued safely. I can confirm to you that we are not leaving anything to chance to rescue the innocent schoolgirls. I just returned from the area (Chibok) this afternoon”.

A farmer in the village of Izge also narrated how he saw the abducted girls being moved around by the insurgents in trucks in the forest. He also said that it was the second time he had witnessed the girls were being moved in different locations.

Meanwhile, one of the girls, who managed to escape from the insurgents recently, said their escape was made possible when they were allowed to go to a nearby river to fetch water after the insurgents had set up camp for the night.

She said when they were instructed to go fetch water from the river for cooking, they decided to escape into the bush, not knowing the direction they were headed.

She added that not all the girls that escaped made it safely back to town as some of them were recaptured, while some were still wandering in the bush.

 

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