President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his government may ban the use of hijabs by Muslim women if the suicide bombings continue without end, adding that it has no cogent intelligence on the fate of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram almost two years.
Buhari admitted as much yesterday during his maiden presidential media chat broadcast live from the State House in Abuja.
Despite the absence of intelligence, he said government was still making efforts to rescue the Chibok girls and would be willing to negotiate their release, but would want to make sure they are negotiating with credible leaders of the Boko Haram terror group.
According to him, “We are keeping our options open with Boko Haram on the Chibok girls on the condition that they can guarantee that the girls are safe and alive.”

The president said the military had combed the Sambisa Forest without any hint about the girls, whom he said might have been dispersed by the terror group.
He said: “I think this is about the third time I am going to talk about the Chibok girls. There was a time the leadership of Boko Haram made contact with us but we insisted that we want to ensure we are speaking with credible leaders of the group.
“Number two is that we want to make sure that the Chibok girls, I think about 219 of them are safe, secure and alive.

“We are still keeping our options open with Boko Haram on the condition that they have credible leaders who can tell that they have the Chibok girls. We have combed the Sambisa Forest but there was no Chibok girl there.
“For now, there is no current information and I am working with Niger, Chad and Cameroun, especially on a humanitarian basis. To be honest with you, there is no credible intelligence that the Chibok girls are alive and in one place.”

Credit: ThisDay