Ninety-eight days since their abduction, Nigerian authorities insisted on Monday that they knew the whereabouts of scores of schoolgirls held by Boko Haram and were merely awaiting "the appropriate time" to secure their release.
"We know where [the girls] are but we don't want to endanger their lives," Nigerian Secret Police Chief Ita Ekpenyong told reporters at a Monday afternoon briefing convened following a meeting of the country's security council in capital Abuja.
"We want to take it gradually and release them [the girls] at the appropriate time," he said.
On April 14, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 schoolgirls in Borno State's town of Chibok, according to official accounts.
Boko Haram kingpin Abubakar Shekau later claimed responsibility for the abductions, offering to trade the girls for some of his fighters held by the Nigerian authorities.
"We know where they are," Ekpenyong said of the girls. "You can go to bed with that."
The comments may deepen national anxiety about the girls' safety, coming more than two months after defense chief Alex Badeh said security agents knew their location but were undecided how to best ensure their safe release.
At the time, Badeh had ruled out the use of force but failed to say whether negotiations had been opened with Boko Haram.
"The government is making efforts," the secret police chief said Monday, dismissing reports that the government was not doing enough to bring the five-year-old insurgency to heel.
"There are several things the government is doing; there are several attacks the government has stopped. But nobody will remember those, because we don't tell you – but several things are going on," added Ekpenyong.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in Nigeria's local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, after the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for numerous attacks – on places of worship and government institutions – and thousands of deaths.
-No registration-
Monday's security meeting, meanwhile, ordered an immediate halt to the registration of northerners in certain southern states for fear that the practice served to weaken national unity.
"The [security] council discussed in detail the issue of registration of Nigerians in any part of the country… being subjected to registration, being subjected to deportation, being taken away from one part of the country to the other," Ekpenyong said.
"The council observed that this threat was more potent than Boko Haram and could disintegrate the country," he added.
"The council resolved that the issue of registration of Nigerians anywhere in the country and deportation should stop forthwith," said the secret police chief.
"Security operatives should not be involved with anybody trying to register people or anybody trying to deport people," he asserted, vowing that violators would be "severely dealt with."
Rochas Okorocha, for his part, governor of Nigeria's southeastern Imo State, denied ordering the registration of northerners in his state.
The recent mass arrest of northerners in the country's south – on suspicions of having links with Boko Haram – has raised fears of ethnic profiling, which analysts warn could have an adverse effect on national unity.
By Rafiu Ajakaye
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
