Military insists it knows location of Chibok girls •Denies hoisting of Boko Haram flag in Borno

DISCOUNTENANCING the jabs thrown at the disclosure, the Nigerian military, on Wednesday, insisted that it is aware of the locations where the over 200 abducted Chibok secondary school girls were being held. Defence Spokesperson, Major-General Chris Olukolade, who spoke at the regular briefing by the National Information Centre, Abuja said, “let everyone believe what the Chief of Defence Staff said and if you don’t believe, wait for developments, but our interest is in the safety of these children and every effort will be put towards that and we expect cooperation from everyone. “We remain with the position taken by the CDS. When we have any further comments or developments, the nation will be told.” Speaking on the recent attacks on Buni Yadi, Yobe State, Olukolade confirmed that 12 soldiers and 13 policemen were killed during the fighting, but denied insinuations that the troops in Buni Yadi were abandoned by the military command during the hours of the incident. “The logistics will have to be understood and it will not be proper just to conclude that there were no help or response. However, we will continue to respond, based on logistics that is available and information that is made available as quickly as possible,” he said. Speaking on the purported hoisting of Boko Haram flags in some communities in Borno State, Olukolade said the Nigerian military would continue to defend territorial integrity of the country. “Nigerian Armed Forces will not allow any portion of this country to bear any strange flag. It is our duty and responsibility to defend the territorial integrity of this country. We will not allow any strange flag to fly anywhere,” he said. He said the security forces would never allow such situation, adding that “we will not allow any portion of this country to hoist strange flag.” Olukolade said based on intelligence reports and information provided by Nigerians, a number of arrests had been made in different parts of Kaduna and Zamfara states and thus reducing terror activities tremendously in those parts. He also noted that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the Jos bombing.