Buhari Joins Jonathan to Charge Military as Rescued 293 females undergo screening!

While President Goodluck Jonathan maintains confidence of the military in the final onslaught against Boko Haram, the President-elect Gen Muhamadu Buhari simultaneously  expresses hope and delight for the rescue of all people captured and commended Nigerian military over the rescue of the abductees.
General (rtd) Buhari  disclosed this via his Twitter handle monitored by NUJ Europe on Wednesday.

"News of the rescue of captured girls fills me with great delight. Many more remain to be set free. Our troops must not relent"
Buhari stated.

Excitements rendering the atmosphere yesterday were mixed with expectations to know that the over 200 Chibok school girls may have been rescued by Nigeria army when it announced that 200 girls and 93 women rescued would be screened on Wednesday.

NUJ Europe investigation reveals that the public would need to wait for a few hours  and perhaps days to allow proper identification and official  announcement until the relatives of the abductees arrive Defence Headquarters before ascertain the identities of the rescued females just as the Nigeria military already commenced identification exercise on Wednesday.

 It has been gathered that the Borno State government disclosed to newsman on Wednesday that all 293 rescued women and girls from Sambisa Forest are indigenes of Bumsiri Village of Damboa Local Government in the state, dousing hopes that some could be the Chibok girls abducted on April 14, 2014.

The state’s commissioner of Information, Mohammed Bulama, has confirmed the latest discovery on Tuesday while briefing reporters on the development.

Some 200 girls and 93 women held hostage in Sambisa Forest, a major stronghold of the Boko Haram terrorists group, were rescued by troops in a mission to clear the Forest of all terrorists. The military headquarters are still profiling their identities as at the time of this report.

Mr Bulama however said that that the rescued persons would be reunited with their parents soon.

NUJ Europe reported that during a military operation to wrest back the Sambisa Forest in the northeast from the militant group, 293 females were rescued by Nigerian troops as announced by Defence Headquarters via its Twitter account.

Nigerian troops rescued 200 girls and 93 women Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest in the northeastern part of the country, the Nigerian Armed Forces announced on its official Twitter account. The forest is a stronghold for the militant Boko Haram group and is not far from Chibok.

General Chris Olukolade said the rescued girls and women are still being screened and none has spoken to their families yet.

"The troops rescued 200 abducted girls and 93 women," Colonel Sani Usman was also reported to have informed the press on Tuesday. They were not, however, from Chibok, the village from which more than 200 girls were abducted in April 2014, he said.

Campaigners are now divided in opinions that holistic efforts should rather be made to end Boko Haram scourge, while the crusaders of #Bringbackourgirls have again voiced their concerns that Nigeria military need more to find the 219 still missing girls from Chibok.

Mrs Obi Ezekwesili a one of the leading frontrunners of the Campaign told a local news TV that “It is a great news at this particular time. We are hopeful that his news will be for real and that the Chibok girls will be among those rescued after they have been profiled”.
Further, Ezekwesili said that some parents of the Chibok girls were already on their way to see the rescued 200 girls.

Mr Ohimia Godwin Amaeze, the spokesman for Minister of Foreign Affairs II, a Nigerian government official said "Boko Haram has always been bigger than one kidnapping event. The bigger picture is and should have been ending Boko Haram." stated,  Ohia via his twitter handle

"So far, they (the army) have destroyed and cleared Sassa, Tokumbere and two other camps in the general area of Alafa, all within the Sambisa forest."

Boko Haram's action in Chibok caused an international outcry, and the group's six-year insurgency has seen thousands killed and many more abducted.

Rawya Ragey a broadcast journalist for one of the major global media giants expressed the hope for the rescue of the many captives of Boko Haram.
  She commented via her verified Twitter handle : @RawyaRageh  "Whether or not the rescued girls, women are #ChibokGrils - for 293 souls to be freed from #BokoHaram is good news #Nigeria"

Diplomats and intelligence officials said they believed at least some of the Chibok girls were being held in the forest about 100 km (60 miles) from Chibok, although U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to find them.

The rescued girls and women will be screened on Wednesday to determine whether they had been abducted or if they were married to the militants, one intelligence source told Reuters.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, during a daily breakfast show, Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Colonel Stan-Labo a security expert said it is a welcome development to all.

He noted that the military should be given break to sort out the rescued Boko Haram victims, in order to know the number of Chibok girls among them.

The security expert further said Nigerians should recall that it was not only the Chibok girls that were held captive, adding that the girls for now, serve as the picture of all captives of the terrorist group.

Some of the girls were injured, and some of the militants killed, he said without giving more details.

The group was rescued from camps "discovered near or on the way to Sambisa," one army official said.

Nigerian forces backed by warplanes invaded the vast former colonial game reserve late last week as part of a push to win back territory from Boko Haram.

The group, notorious for violence against civilians, controlled an area roughly the size of Belgium at the start of the year but has since been beaten back by Nigerian troops, backed by Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

While the Nigerian army maintains the group is now hemmed in Sambisa Forest, militants have managed to launch attacks in the neighbourhood including chasing soldiers out of Marte town and an island on Lake Chad.