Nigeria and Boko Haram delegates Reach Agreement, kidnapped Girls To Be Freed

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Militant group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government have reached a cease-fire agreement that calls for the release of more than 200 girls kidnapped by the militants in April from the town of Chibok. The two sides reached the agreement Friday, after talks in Saudi Arabia that involved President Idriss Deby of Chad and high-level officials from Cameroon. Nigeria's highest-ranking military official, General Alex Badeh, announced the agreement Friday, referring to Boko Haram by its formal Arabic-language name. I wish to inform this audience that a cease-fire agreement has been concluded between the federal government of Nigeria and al-Sunna lil-Daʿawah wa al-Jihad, said Badeh.Hassan Tukur, a close adviser to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, said Boko Haram took the first step toward suspending hostilities. Its leaders "have announced a unilateral cease-fire," Tukur said. "The Nigerian government has responded accordingly and we are now monitoring to see if the cease-fire is holding and I hope it will hold. "Tukur said the negotiations had not yet "yielded any positive results, but I am cautiously optimistic that this time around ... we will be able to achieve some success."Tukur and Danladi Ahmadu, who calls himself the secretary-general of Boko Haram, told VOA's Hausa-language service the girls will be released Monday in Chad. The girls are alive and "in good condition and unharmed," Ahmadu said.