Switzerland Justifies Role In Chibok Girls’ Release

The spokesperson of Switzerland Foreign Ministry, Noemie Charton, has confirmed that his country took part in negotiations that secured the release of 82 Chibok girls kidnapped by the terror group, Boko Haram
He said the country took part “at the request of Nigeria” and due to “humanitarian concerns”.
Just last Saturday, a Boko Haram faction released 82 Chibok girls, who had been held captive for three years, in exchange for an undisclosed number of prisoners.
Those freed were part of a group of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the Chibok village, in the restive Borno State, on April 14, 2014.
Nigeria thanked Switzerland, the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as local and international NGOs for helping secure the release of the girls.
In a statement, Charton said, “Switzerland’s commitment is motivated by humanitarian concerns.
“Switzerland’s engagement in this operation was guided by the principles of strict neutrality and non-interference,” he added.
Charton restated Switzerland’s call for the release of the rest of the Chibok girls still held captive by the group.
At least, 21 Chibok girls were released last October, in another deal brokered by Switzerland and the Red Cross. It is believed that 114 girls are still in Boko Haram custody.
“The process of negotiation with groups like Boko Haram is very complex and stressful, and requires a varied number of actors working together and playing different, but key roles to realise the desired outcome,” security analyst and counter-terrorism expert, David Otto said.
“The Switzerland representative played an active role in organising negotiations from within Nigeria and outside Nigeria along with local key actors like Barrister Zannah Mustapha and human rights activist and lawyer, Asiha Wakil, who wield trust due to their pre-existing relationships with one or more factions,” he continued.
However, details of the negotiations that resulted in the release of the girls have not been disclosed and little is known about the identity of the prisoners.
However, Otto – who said his company, TGS Consulting, was involved in the negotiations – said the prisoners are “influential Boko Haram commanders”.
“Their roles have never been officially established except that Boko Haram require[d] their release in exchange,” he said.
Director of Political and Security Risk Management Consultancy, Signal Risk, Ryan Cummings, said: “It is difficult to speculate the impact that the release of the detained commanders would have on the operational capacity of the sect, given that we do not know the identities of the operatives released as a result of the hostage exchange”.