The Nigerian Defence Headquarters has described the abductors of the over 200 children and teachers of a school in Kuriga in Kaduna State, as brutal and bloodthirsty terrorists and not bandits as they are being called.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who said this on Thursday while addressing journalists in Abuja, said the kidnapped victims were being held in locations difficult for Nigerian soldiers to get to.
According to the Defence spokesperson, the terrorists, many of whose commanders and leaders have been killed, are using the victims as human shields to prevent further air and land offensive strikes against them.
Buba said, “We have depleted their ranks, and neutralised many of their commanders and foot soldiers. The terrorists exhibited gross cowardice by going after children. We have taken their Commanders out.
“We recently acquired new air platforms to further decimate them. They know we mean business. It is to protect themselves that they went after the students. But we will not rest until all the kidnapped victims are rescued.
“As in every war, there are complexities and ours is no exception. Recently, cases of citizens being abducted in the North East, North West and North Central theatres of operations were recorded.
“These citizens were abducted by a brutal and bloodthirsty group that should only be addressed as terrorists, not bandits. I repeat, these are terrorists and not bandits.
“They are holding these citizens against their will and against all norms of human behaviour, and against the laws of armed conflict and any good measure in the world.
“Several of their leaders and commanders have been neutralised as a result of troops’ onslaught. They want to use these hostages as human shields for their survival. Nevertheless, be assured that we will not rest until the hostages are returned.
“I doubt, this is a difficult situation, but not one that is insurmountable. The hostage situation is an extremely sensitive one which unfortunately is not unprecedented in the history of the ongoing war.
“These hostages are being held in locations that are difficult to get to, but not out of reach. The situation is however indicative of the desperation of these terrorists to avoid troops’ onslaught by all means.
“Recall that in recent times troops have decimated several of the terrorists’ leaders, commanders and foot soldiers and fast closing in on several others.”
“These terrorists have exhibited cowardice by going for such soft targets to impede troops’ advances. I assure you that we will not rest until they are returned.
“Given the hostage situation, it can be deduced that the search and rescue effort was grossly affected by the non-timely notification of troops of the incident. Nevertheless, I can assure you that we will not rest until these hostages are returned.
“However, because of the sensitivity of the matter, I cannot go into further details as to signs of life, location, and the different options that we have in order to get these hostages back.
“Let me further assure you that getting these hostages back is very clearly at the top of our priorities. It is for this reason we have leveraged our international partners for support.
“Accordingly, they are providing the necessary support including intelligence that is giving us the advantage in dealing with the ugly situation,” Buba added.
