‘Nigeria will have to pay a high price for missing girls,’ Shehu Sani says

monjola sotubo

April 19, 2016 1:40 PM

Sani made the comment while answering questions from journalists in Kaduna State after donating some items to residents of the state.

Screenshot of some of the chibok girls speaking from captivity in a video released by CNN weeks ago.

Senator

Sani made the comment while answering questions from journalists in Kaduna State after donating some items to residents of the state, Leadership reports.

“It is very unfortunate that we could not get this out on time. They have spent two years in captivity now. The good thing now is that the government of Muhammadu Buhari has degraded the capacity of the insurgents to hold unto any territory or to carry out their usual big scale attacks,” he said.

“But we may have to pay a very high price to get these girls out now. It is possible to free them. The best way to get them out is that we need to set up a special committee which has its mandates and responsibilities. It shall be tasked with the mandate to do everything possible including persuading and negotiating with Boko Haram on how to get these girls out.

“And then there is the need to set up another committee to ensure that both sides abide by the rules set up for the negotiation. This committee should include international bodies like the United Nations, Medecins Sans Frontier etc.

“And I think we may need to pay the highest of price if we need to get these girls out even if it means freeing some of their members in detention. I don’t like this academic argument of saying, ‘if this happens, then that thing will happen’.

“I believe that why these girls have continued to stay in the hands of these captives is simply because of class difference. This is the truth of the hostage situation in Nigeria. When the children of the high and mighty are abducted, or their wives and brothers are kidnapped it takes no time to secure their freedom. That is not good enough. We must take the life of every Nigerian as equal to the other,” he added.

The Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.

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