Mr Lai Mohammed wants Nigerians to believe that the government neither paid ransom nor swapped any Boko Haram member to secure the release of the Dapchi girls.
“This is a fact, irrespective of how a section of the press has tried to spin the story.
“The insurgents brought the girls back to the location of the kidnapping themselves as an apparent gesture of goodwill.
“This follows relentless efforts by the Government to find long-lasting solutions to the conflict,” he said.
So much has been said as Nigerians wondered why the insurgents were so casual and feared no one as they dropped off the girls in their village.
Thus, the government thought it was important to clarify, hence the Minister of Information’s media briefing in Lagos.
He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed all security agencies to do everything possible to bring the girls back unharmed, hence the method adopted.
He called it “back-channel talks with our international friends as mediators”, and the result was the release of the girls.
The minister said unlike the abducted Chibok girls, the Dapchi abduction ended about a month after it occurred and most of the girls were freed because of proactive action by the government.
“As I have said time and again, there is no government that will not face tragedies. What makes the difference is how such tragedies are managed.
“President Buhari put this in perspective when he said the response of his Administration is a marked departure from the attitude of the preceding administration in the aftermath of the kidnap of the 276 Chibok girls in 2014.
“Whereas it took that administration 18 days to even acknowledge the kidnap of the girls, the current administration was responsive and was not in denial."
He said that no stone was left unturned to secure the prompt release of the girls.
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