Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has explained how a planned U.S. operation to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014 was cancelled because someone inside the Nigerian military leaked information to Boko Haram.
Speaking on Arise TV, Akinyemi said the American team arrived quietly after being invited by the Jonathan administration to help find and free the girls.
They worked closely with Nigerian soldiers and even discovered the camp where the girls were being held.
According to him, the plan was for the U.S. to release gas into the camp at night so everyone including Boko Haram fighters would be asleep. Then American and Nigerian troops would go in and rescue the girls.
But the operation fell apart when a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft flew over the camp and saw Boko Haram militants wearing masks a sign they had been warned.
Akinyemi said this made it clear that someone in the Nigerian military had tipped off the terrorists. As a result, the U.S. withdrew, unwilling to endanger its soldiers.
He stressed that the incident showed the urgent need to remove people in the military who secretly support Boko Haram or ISWAP.
The Chibok kidnapping happened on April 14, 2014, when more than 250 girls were abducted from their school in Borno State.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau later threatened to sell them as slaves unless imprisoned Boko Haram members were released.
