The United States of America has made clear its position on any attempt to pay ransom for the release of the abducted Chibok girls. A former US ambassador to Nigeria stated that though America would throw her weight behind all efforts of the Nigerian government to secure the release of the girls particularly by negotiation with the terrorist group, she is however opposed to the payment of monetary ransom.
Mr. Walter Carrington said “The American position is refusing to negotiate (with terrorists) for the release of prisoners by paying a ransom on the feeling that if you pay a ransom to release somebody you will only encourage the terrorists to take other prisoners. If President Buhari thinks negotiation is likely to bring about some kind of change I don’t think that will bring opposition officially from the US to his negotiating with Boko Haram.
He continued “I think it is extremely important that we get back as many of the Chibok girls as we can. My own personal view is that I will think of anything that can be done to bring back the girls. I have no idea of what the President is thinking about doing. There are all kinds of rumours but no real facts. So, I will support any successful efforts to get the girls back,”
Carrington also expressed reserves about the ideological grounding of the Boko Haram sect in comparison to the ISIS. He was quoted as saying "Boko Haram is not as ideological as the IS". " The Islamic State has so many adherents among the population. I don’t think Boko Haram has that. Boko Haram is different; it does not represent, I think, a large portion of the population in the areas in which it operates. In fact, so much of its violence is carried out against other Muslims.
Credit: Punch
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