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Abuja - The Muslim community in Nigeria's Osun State has appealed to Boko Haram insurgents to release the over 200 missing Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted in 2014, Punch reports.
The vice president of the Osun State Muslim Community, Alhaji Mustafa said that the girls had been in captivity for a long time and would be best served if they were released.
"We can only appeal to them to release them from where they are being kept. It is strange how they abducted over 200 girls in the first place, they didn’t take them away by aircraft, they used vehicles and no single vehicle could convey them at a time," Mustafa was quoted as saying.
Mustafa, however, said it was wrong for the terrorist group to be labelled as an Islamic organisation, Boko Haram in no way represented Islam.
Credible leadership of the sect
Mustafa's remarks came a few days after President Muhammadu Buhari requested the United Nations to help mediate with the terror group in order to free the girls.
The girls were kidnapped in April 2014 from their government-owned school in Chibok, Borno State. The Buhari administration has faced heavy criticisms for its inability to secure their release.
Speaking in New York during a bilateral meeting with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, Buhari said his government was willing to accept the UN as a mediator. He reiterated his earlier stance that it was difficult identifying the credible leadership of the sect.
"The challenge is in getting credible and bona fide leadership of Boko Haram to discuss with. The split in the insurgent group is not helping matters. Government had reached out, ready to negotiate, but it became difficult to identify credible leaders. We will welcome intermediaries such as UN outfits, to step in," Buhari was quotyed as saying.
