Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor has declared that no Chibok schoolgirl is in the custody of the military at the moment.
Irabor spoke on Sunday while interacting with newsmen in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital at the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole.
The military chief, however, did not rule out the possibility that some of the girls might have freshly escaped from Boko Haram custody.
Irabor was reacting to the news that more of the Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014 from Borno State have reportedly escaped from their abductors.
“It was the desire of the military to get the Chibok girls back safely and if our operations have helped those said to have escaped, I think we are glad.”
“We do not have any of the Chibok girls in our custody, so if they are not with us we have nothing to confirm again,” Irabor said.
Earlier, according to a source quoted in a report monitored by Naija News on Daily Trust on Thursday evening, some of the girls that escaped include one Halima Ali said to have been married off to a Boko Haram commander after their kidnap.
A source also confirmed that some of the parents have been contacted by officials handling the girls and that the affected parents might be invited to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital soon.
Similarly, when contacted, the Secretary, Chibok Parents Association, Lawal Zannah, confirmed that some of the girls had escaped but had not yet ascertained the number.
“We heard that some of our girls have escaped from the forest, but we are yet to get the detail about their number,” Zannah said.
Also, the father of one of the girls, Ali Maiyanga, said he spoke with his daughter, confirming she was part of those who escaped.
A statement made available to newsmen by Emmanuel Ogebe of the US-Nigeria Law Group (USNLG) on Friday, revealed that Mr Maiyanga communicated his daughter who escaped with others on Thursday.
However, Irabor has denied knowledge of any such development.
Naija News reports the CDS was accompanied by the Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Isiaka Amao, and the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo.
The military chiefs were in Maiduguri to meet with critical stakeholders to strategize on how to tackle Boko Haram insurgency in the theatre of war.