TALKING FROM EXPERIENCE : Chibok: US Rejects Swapping Of Abducted Girls ... LeadershipNews

The United States government on Wednesday rejected the offer from Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, to swap the over 200 Chibok students in the custody of the terrorists organization for the release of some terror prisoners in some Nigeria’s prisons.
The Department of State also noted that it would not go against the wish of the federal government of Nigeria if it wanted to go ahead with the swapping as proposed by the Boko Haram leader who further hinted on Monday in a 27-minute video that he was instructed by Allah to kidnap the female students.
Speaking in Washington, DC in her national capacity, Jen Psaki, a spokesperson of the Department of State, condemned the trade offer, stressing that the United States policy was to deny kidnappers the benefits of their criminal acts, including ransoms or concessions.
Her words: “In terms of the question you had about the reports of a trade offer, as you know, Nigeria is in the lead. We are simply supporting their efforts. We, as you know, also, our policy is to deny. The United States policy, I should say, is to deny kidnappers the benefits of their criminal acts, including ransoms or concessions.”
In a related development, a former Assistant Secretary of State on African Affairs, Ambassador Johnnie Carson, has noted that the U.S. offer of assistance to help Nigeria look for the missing female students was a welcome and positive development, adding that it underscored U.S. interests in trying to help find the girls as well as the importance that the U.S. attaches to Nigeria.
Carson, a senior adviser, U.S. Institute of Peace, made this known in a briefing at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC, noting that this kind of assistance was consistent with ongoing U.S. policies in Africa.
He added that the US offer of assistance was consistent with the desire to help bring to justice, individuals who are carrying out atrocities in Africa.
“Things that we can do for Nigeria are to help provide intelligence collection, better information gathering, help them to improve their investigative techniques, help them in their forensics training. But it is unclear, and it’s possible even to provide some aerial satellite and imagery that might be useful in terms of being able to help.
“We have satellites that pass over this region; they can, in fact, be effective in also helping to track. There are also airplanes that can do some very useful work. But it is important that the Nigerians accept this. In the past, the Nigerians have shown a reluctance to accept not only our assistance, but also a reluctance to accept some of our analytic advice,” he said.
It would be recalled that members of the Boko Haram Sect through their leader had on Monday said that they would not free the over 200 girls they abducted from  the Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State unless the federal government releases its detained members who are in various Nigeria’s prisons.
The group’s leader, Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, who made this known in a 27-minute  video made public on Monday, claimed that  he was commanded by Allah to kidnap the girls. He also wondered why there was so much global outcry over the abduction of the Chibok girls.