The leadership of the Nigeria Police Force has disclaimed reports that wives of its officers were among the ones abducted and released by the Boko Haram sect after negotiation.
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The Borno Police command has clarified that 10 women rescued from Boko Haram are neither police women nor wives of police personnel.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government in a statement had on Saturday announced release of 13 persons by the Boko Haram insurgents, sequel to negotiations brokered by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC).
The freed persons are three male workers of the University of Maiduguri and 10 women, kidnapped in a raid by the militant group on a military/police convoy on Damboa Road, between June and July, 2017, in Borno State.
However, Damian Chukwu, Police Commissioner in Borno, while addressing newsmen during the monthly police officers’ meeting on Monday in Maiduguri confirmed that the women were not police women or wives of personnel.
He described reports indicating that 10 police women were among the 13 persons released by Boko Haram insurgents as “misleading”.
“That information is false, I have to react to it. It will be recalled that on 20th June, 2017, a burial party of one our women sergeants attached to the SIB who died in the course of duty was being taken home to Lassa in Askira-Uba Local Government Area for burial.
“And due to security encumbrance on Maiduguri-Damboa Highway, they were under military and police escort, on getting to a town about 30 kilometres from Maiduguri; they were ambushed by the Boko Haram and some women who took advantage of the empty space in the truck.
“So the women were trapped; we do not know their number but a few of them who were able to jump down, scampered for safety, escaped. Those of them who could not make it were taken away with the truck by the Boko Haram.
“Among them, since that time, we recorded only one woman inspector attached to the CIB, who happened to be a very close friend of the deceased sergeant, the rest of them are not police women and they are not wives of police personnel,” he said