MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Days after Nigeria’s military raised hopes by announcing Islamic extremists have agreed to a cease-fire, Boko Haram is still fighting and there is no word about 219 schoolgirls held hostage for six months.
Officials had said talks with Nigeria’s Islamic extremist rebels would resume in neighbouring Chad this week, but there was no confirmation that negotiations had resumed by Wednesday.
The silence raises many questions, especially since Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau has not confirmed the truce.
People who escaped this week from a town where Boko Haram has declared an Islamic caliphate say hundreds are being detained for breaking the group’s strict version of Shariah law.
The insurgents have attacked three north-eastern towns and raised their flag in a fourth village since Nigeria’s military chief announced a cease-fire Friday.
