..Insurgents Have Laid Booby Traps, Landmines

Armed Boko Haram insurgents

•Cameron joins #BringBackOurGirls campaign

•Israel to send counter-terrorism experts
•Military gets tip-off on Abuja market attack
Our Correspondents

As the world rallies to secure the release of the over 200 schoolgirls who were kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram terrorists about a month ago, it has emerged that the insurgents are likely to have laid booby traps and landmines to stop the military from finding them, Sky News reported yesterday.
Last week, the insurgents blew up two bridges in Borno and Adamawa States, ostensibly to slow down Nigerian soldiers who have been searching for them and their victims for weeks.

Notwithstanding the attempts by the sect to stop the military from tracking them down, the global effort to rescue the girls continued at the weekend, with the offer by the Israeli government to send a team of counter-terrorism experts to assist in the search and rescue operations.

Japan, at the weekend, also assured the Nigerian government of its preparedness to send its civil defence forces as long as the United Nations endorses it.

Similarly, British Prime Minister David Cameron joined the BringBackOurGirls campaign during an interview yesterday on the BBC with fellow guest Christiane Amanpour.

According to Sky News, a former member of the Nigerian military recommended that starving members of Boko Haram could be a way of rescuing the girls.
Former Air Commodore Darlington Abdullahi said: “They may have made land mines, one cannot rule that out.
“One thing for sure is, even as they go along abducting children, they will also go after food; grabbing food from various angles.

“That is why it’s important that if the military from various countries close up on them that means the issue of starvation might come in and might even force them to find an exit and most likely abandon the girls that are still with them in the forest.”

Intelligence sources had previously told Sky News that they believe they know where some of the schoolgirls are.
The sources believe they have been split into at least four different groups.
Sky News also understands British and American officials are using advanced eavesdropping equipment to scan the Sambisa forest where the schoolgirls are suspected to be.

The militants are believed to have blown up an important bridge near where the girls were first seized, complicating efforts to find them.

Fleeing residents said the bridge between the states of Adamawa and Borno was destroyed on Friday.
A team of French experts arrived in the country on Saturday, as international efforts to find the schoolgirls were ramped up.

This follows British and American personnel arriving earlier in the week.
As international help continues to arrive, the Nigerian military has had tip-offs that Boko Haram could be planning another attack on the market in the capital Abuja.

It was further revealed that the federal government is indirectly in contact with the Islamist group, with intelligence sources stating that neighbouring Chad, Cameroun and Niger are also providing satellite imagery to help find the girls.

Israel sends counter-terrorism experts
But to ward off more attacks on the country, Nigeria at the weekend continued to get global support on the rescue effort for the abducted schoolgirls and stopping the insurgency altogether.
Making this known yesterday, the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the president, Dr. Rueben Abati, said President Goodluck Jonathan, in accepting the assistance of Israel, expressed confidence that with the international community deploying its considerable military and intelligence gathering skills and assets in support of Nigeria, the schoolgirls would be found and rescued soon.
In a statement issued by Abati, the president’s media aide said Jonathan spoke in a phone conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, who called yesterday afternoon to convey his country’s sympathy and solidarity with Nigeria.
Jonathan, according to the statement, welcomed the offer by Netanyahu to send a team of Israeli counter-terrorism experts to assist in the ongoing search and rescue operations.
“The president briefed Mr. Netanyahu on actions already being taken by Nigeria’s armed forces and security agencies to locate and rescue the girls, saying that Nigeria would be pleased to have Israel’s globally-acknowledged anti-terrorism expertise deployed to support its ongoing operations.
“Mr. Netanyahu who expressed Israel’s total condemnation of the mass abductions, said that the team of experts from his country, who will soon arrive in Nigeria, will work in collaboration with teams from the United States and Britain who are already in the country and their Nigerian counterparts to intensify the search for the girls.
“He reaffirmed Israel’s willingness to give the government and people of Nigeria all possible support and assistance to overcome terrorism and insecurity,” the statement added.