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            Nigeria, Boko Haram to Discuss Terms to Free Schoolgirls

   by VOA News

   The Nigerian government said it plans to discuss with Boko Haram this
   coming week the terms for the release of more than 200 schoolgirls
   kidnapped by the militant group in April.

   The two sides agreed to a cease-fire on Friday.

   Top Nigerian presidential aide Hassan Tukur told VOA's Hausa news
   service that the militants have agreed in principle to free the
   schoolgirls.

   Talks on the issue are expected in Chad this coming week.

   Turkur said negotiations in the past had not yet "yielded any positive
   results," but he is "cautiously optimistic" this time.

   There has been no public comment from Boko Haram on the developments.

   Boko Haram has terrorized Nigeria for the last five years as it tries
   to turn northern Nigeria into a conservative Islamic state. Bombings,
   gun attacks and other acts of violence have killed thousands of
   civilians and police.

   Kidnapped in April

   The militants outraged the world when they stormed a school in the
   remote northeastern village of Chibok, kidnapping about 270 girls in
   mid-April. Fifty-seven managed to escape, but more than 200 are still
   being held.

   Nigeria's highest-ranking military official, General Alex Badeh,
   announced the cease-fire agreement with Boko Haram on Friday. He
   ordered all of the country's military chiefs to abide by the deal.

   The cease-fire talks were held in Chad and involved Chad's president,
   Idriss Deby, and senior officials from Cameroon.

   Nigerian President Jonathan has been criticized at home and abroad for
   the inability of Nigerian troops to stop the the militants. But Tukur
   said the process has started and that the government will "go the extra
   mile" to solve the problem of Boko Haram.

   VOA's Hausa news service contributed to this report.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-boko-haram-kidnapped-chibok-s
   choolgirls-negotiations/2488086.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-boko-haram-kidnapped-chibok-schoolgirls-negotiations/2488086.html