Chibok Schoolgirls: Nigeria deploys ‘two special battalions’ for search – Okupe

Mr. Okupe said fighter jets scanned for the girls.

In what can be described as the first major information on the efforts put in place to rescue the over 200 girls abducted from their secondary school in Borno State, a presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, said “two special battalions were devoted to searching for the girls”.

Mr. Okupe in a grilling interview by CNN’s Isha Sesay also said over “250 aerial sortees with helicopters and fighter jets” scanned the forests to find the girls. He said the attempts have not yielded any results.

This information comes amid heavy criticisms of the handling of the abduction of over 200 girls from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14.

There has also been international and local rage on the abduction of the girls and the lack of information on the efforts to find and rescue them.

The US, CNN also reports, has offered to help Nigeria rescue the girls.

John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Mr. Jonathan had a conversation with the later accepting the help offered.

Another presidential aide, Reuben Abati, had earlier confirmed that the U.S. would be sending a special team to help in the rescue as part of the agreement reached during Mr. Kerry’s phone conversation with President Jonathan.