We won’t swap Chibok girls for Boko Haram – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has told members of Boko Haram to perish the thought that his government would swap arrested members of the dreaded sect for the 234 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State.

Jonathan was reacting to a video release by the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, that the girls would only be freed if the government released its members arrested during various operations by the military.

In the video, through which some parents of the abducted girls have identified their daughters who were writing their final secondary school examination at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Shekau said the government should forget seeing the girls again unless the demand of the group was met.

But on Wednesday, Jonathan spurned the offer during a meeting with the Minister for Africa Affairs of Britain, Mark Simmonds.

Speaking with newsmen after the meeting, Simmonds said: “He (Jonathan) made it very clear that there will be no negotiation with Boko Haram that involves a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners.”

The meeting also discussed the planned international rescue mission for the girls.