TheCable

Kassim Shettima, governor of Borno state, has urged the military to conduct a thorough operation in the Sambisa forest because there is a possibility that Boko Haram is keeping the abducted Chibok schoolgirls in bunkers within the forest.

Since April 2014 when more than 200 girls were abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, all efforts to secure their release have not yielded the desired result.

So far, none of the girls has been identified among the over-700 girls and women that the military rescued from the stronghold of the sect in recent weeks.

Presenting a paper at a conference on security and governance in Abuja on Tuesday, Shettima urged the military not to relent in the quest to liberate the girls.

“We are suspecting that Chibok girls are living with the insurgents in bunkers. I think the military must carry out their operations beyond the surface earth,” said Mala Gubio, secretary of Borno elders forum, who represented the governor.

“The genuine fear, which needs to be viewed seriously, is whether bunkers might have been built within the vast forest.

“It should not be forgotten that at the initial stage, the insurgents were able to build bunkers large enough to accommodate up to 500 people right inside Maiduguri, at Bulabulin Ngarannan Ward.

“If they were able to do that in Maiduguri, when they find themselves in the forest without any disturbance, they can build bunkers and this is our genuine fear.

“So, having been left unchallenged for such a long time, such possibilities cannot be ruled out, and this poses serious obstacles within the forest.

“The insurgents use their bases in the Sambisa forest to launch deadly attacks and make quick retreat to their base. This enabled them to capture and take over control of local government areas bordering Nigeria and Cameroun, Chad and Niger.”