REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LAGOS -- The Nigerian military Wednesday insisted that it is aware of the locations where over 200 abducted Chibok secondary school girls were being held.
National defense spokesperson, major general Chris Olukolade, told a regular media briefing in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, sthat their interest is in the safety of the children.
On April 14, over 200 girls were abducted from a secondary School in Chibok, Borno State by military insurgents.
The Boko Harum sect has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, saying they will only release the girls on condition that the government releases its members in prison.
Speaking on the recent attacks on Buni Yadi, Yobe State, Olukolade confirmed that 12 soldiers and 13 policemen were killed during the fighting but denied insinuations that the troops in Buni Yadi were abandoned by the military command during the hours of the incident.
"The logistics will have to be understood and it will not be proper just to conclude that there were no help or response.
However, we will continue to respond based on logistics that is available and information that is made available as quickly as possible," he said.
"Nigerian armed forces will not allow any portion of this country to bear any strange flag. It is our duty and responsibility to defend the territorial integrity of this country. We will not allow any strange flag to fly anywhere," the military spokesperson said while responding to a question about reports that the insurgents have hoisted their flags in some communities in Borno State.
Olukolade disclosed that based on intelligence reports and information provided by Nigerians, a number of arrests have been made in different parts of central north states of Kaduna and Zamfara and thus reducing terror activities tremendously in those parts.
"Troops have continued to raid different locations. A number of arrests has been made in Kachia and Zamfara," he said, noting that in the course of the raids, some suspects died while exchanging gunfire with troops while arms and ammunitions were recovered in the process.
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