The Islamic State-allied faction of Boko Haram, which
last week freed 21 of more than 200 Chibok girls kidnapped in April 2014 in
northeast Nigeria, is willing to negotiate the release of 83 more of the girls,
the president's spokesman says.
Around 220 girls were taken from their school in 2014 in
Chibok in northeastern Borno state, where Boko Haram has waged a seven-year
insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state, killing thousands and displacing
more than two million people.
A faction of the militant group released 21 of the girls
on Thursday after the Red Cross and the Swiss government brokered a deal.
"These 21 released girls are supposed to be tale
bearers to tell the Nigerian government that this faction of Boko Haram has 83
more Chibok girls," Garba Shehu, spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari,
told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone on Sunday.
"The faction said it is ready to negotiate if the
government is willing to sit down with them," said Shehu, adding that the
state is prepared to negotiate with the branch of Boko Haram.
The Islamic State-allied splinter group said the rest of
the kidnapped Chibok girls were with the part of Boko Haram under the control
of figurehead Abubakar Shekau, according to Shehu.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed on Thursday denied
reports that the state had swapped captured Boko Haram fighters for their
release and said he was not aware if any ransom had been paid. He said a
Nigerian army operation against Boko Haram would continue.
The militants controlled a swathe of land around the
size of Belgium at the start of 2015, but Nigeria's army has recaptured most of
the territory.
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