Nigeria reportedly in 'indirect contact' with group holding schoolgirls

The Nigerian government has made 'indirect contact' with the terrorist group believed to be behind the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in the north of that country last month, according to a published report.

The report from Sky News did not specify how the two sides got in touch, but a special adviser to Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan told Sky News that Nigeria would not pay to secure the girls' release, 'because the sale of human beings is a crime against humanity.'

The Nigerian government has been heavily criticized for the conduct of its search for the 276 missing girls, who were taken from a boarding school in the northern state of Borno in the early morning hours of April 15 after taking final exams. On Friday, the group Amnesty International claimed that Nigerian security forces were aware that a convoy of fighters from Boko Haram were approaching the town of Chibok four hours before the kidnapping and did nothing to stop them.

It is believed that 53 girls were able to escape the kidnappers. One of them, 19-year-old Sarah Lawan, told the Associated Press that her ordeal was 'too terrifying for words,' and added that she was afraid to go back to school.

Boko Haram, whose name, loosely translated, means 'Western education is forbidden,' is believed to have killed approximately 1,500 people in Nigeria so far this year, and has been waging an insurgency in the country for the past five years. The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed credit for the abductions in a video last week, saying 'I abducted your girls! By Allah, I will sell them in the marketplace!'

'This is a clear case of mismanagement of a small group of bandits who have been allowed to really grow into a monstrous terrorist organization that we now have,' former Nigeria vice president Atiku Abubakar told Sky News.

The search has been made more difficult by the lack of information regarding the girls' possible whereabouts, with speculation suggesting that they have been split into four groups, with some believed to have been taken across Nigeria's border. Sky News reports that militants have likely laid booby traps and land mines to prevent searchers from finding the girls. In addition, two bridges crossing Nigeria's borders with Chad and Cameroon have reportedly been destroyed in the past week.

The BBC reported Sunday that Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno state, had received reports of the girls' whereabouts and had passed them on to the Nigerian military for verification.

The search so far has centered on the Sambisa forest, with Nigerian troops being aided by advisers from the US, Britain, and France. Israel offered to assist in the search over the weekend, while Chad, Cameroon, and Niger are contributing satellite imagery.

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