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THERE are indications that Boko Haram has agreed to swap some of the abducted 219 Chibok girls for 18 commanders. According to The Nation, they want to exchange the female students kidnapped in April for 18 key sect members currently in detention. Some disagreements appeared last night however, as the Nigerian authorities wanted Boko Haram to release all the 219 girls missing for almost five months, while the latter agreed to free only 30.
According to the sources, the delegation, whose membership was kept under wrap, discussed with the commander, who is simply described as Umar.
The source was quoted saying:

“Some top officials met with Umar about two weeks ago in Kuje Prison to discuss issues connected to the fate of the Chibok girls. We heard some inmates sharing this information that the sect might swap the girls with Umar and others. But all the details are still secret because Umar keeps to himself a lot.”
Another source claimed the negotiations had been successful adding that the sides had agreed on the deal.

“The delegation had a fruitful negotiation with Umar, who is one of the highly-rated commanders of Boko Haram. The group assured Umar of a swap and he has been looking forward to it. The sect has given a list of 18 of its members to be swapped with the abducted Chibok girls.”

Some security operatives have allegedly warned the government that the release of 30 girls was a dangerous move when there was “no full assurance that all the girls will be released”.

The “swap” saga was surrounded by numerous controversies, with some sources saying that the government made a U-turn when the deal was close to being secured and other sources insisted that the deal was stopped by the insurgents. — 360nobs.