It may take years to find all the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, the country’s Defence Minister warned on Tuesday.
Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok in April 2014. Some escaped and 21 were released last year after negotiations with Boko Haram, but 195 remain missing.
Nigeria’s military is searching Boko Haram’s hideouts in the Sambisa Forest, a vast area covering parts of three states in the northeast, General Manir Dan Ali told Voice of America’s Hausa language service.
He said even the US needed a long time to find Osama bin laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
“It took the US up to seven, eight, up to 10 years before they could get to bin laden,” he said. “We are continuing our campaigning in the Sambisa Forest in all its nooks and corners.”
Ali spoke after Nigerians last week marked the third anniversary of the schoolgirls’ abduction.
In 2014, Boko Haram had seized control of much of northeastern Nigeria but it has been driven back by a military campaign.
Failure to find the girls would translate into a victory for Boko Haram, said Sheikh Nuru Khalid, a member of a group that tries to encourage peace between Nigerian Muslims and Christians.