FG insists on unconditional release

President Goodluck Jonathan has re-echoed government’s position on non-negotiation with the Boko Haram over the release of the abduction of over 200 Chibok school girls, insisting they must be released unconditionally.
President Jonathan who stated this in Abuja at the Asu Ekiye musical concert and fund raising ceremony, commended the resolute spirit of Nigerians in the face of the insurgency, saying despite the terror, the Nigerian people have won the fight against terrorism by their resolute spirit.
The President who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Youth and Students Matters, Comrade Jude Imagwe, urged Nigerians to support government efforts at bring back the girls, adding that the terrorists have declared war on the citizens and they must rise up as one to fight and win back the country.
“We must rise up to tell them that they cannot win us, they  must release our sisters back to us unconditionally but Nigerians must join hands with the government to encourage our security agencies to find the girls and bring them back to us,” he stated.
In another development, the Senate President David Mark restated the Federal Government’s resolve not to negotiate with the terrorist group for the release of the school girls adopted about a month ago.
Speaking on Saturday in Ikom, Cross River State, where he graced the fifth empowerment programme of the Senate leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, Mark said the condition given by Boko Haram that the kidnapped school girls should be swapped for their members who are in the custody of the Federal Government is an act of blackmail that the Nigerian state would not succumb to.
The Senate President said, “This government will not negotiate with criminals. And this government will not exchange people for criminals. A criminal will be treated like a criminal and this government in no distant time will bring the issue of Boko Haram and insecurity in this country to a logical conclusion.
“We would spare no efforts at all in bringing the insecurity situation in the northern part of this country to a logical conclusion. We would mobilise all our resources. If people declare war on us, we would also declare war on them.
“The government was ready for peace, but obviously, the Boko Haram people and their supporters were not ready and we are going to deal with them in a manner that people deal with terrorists and insurgents.
“It is not by negotiation. If the language they will understand is the language of force, the government has got all the resources to do that,” he assured.