Nigeria Seeks U.N. Help to Get Back Chibok Girls

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the U.N. to mediate negotiations between the government and Boko Haram regarding the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls still missing after being abducted by the extremist group over two years ago.

Presidential adviser Femi Adesina said in a statement Thursday that the request – made a day earlier by Buhari to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York – is a "show of commitment."

In 2014, 276 girls were abducted from a village in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria. Some escaped, while Boko Haram alleges others have since been killed in government airstrikes. The Nigerian government has disputed that allegation.

Previous negotiations between Nigeria and Boko Haram regarding the girls, mediated by neighboring Chad, have failed. Buhari reportedly told Ban that the government is "willing to bend over backwards" to secure the girls' release, but is struggling to determine which Boko Haram leaders to negotiate with.

Foreign governments, including those from the US and China, had promised to help Nigeria search for the girls when they were abducted while preparing for the school exams in Chibok in April 2014.

But Boko Haram's incumbent leader, Abubakar Shekau, contested that decision. It had been speculated that Shekau was dead, and it is unclear if such a belief prompted the leadership change from the Islamic State group.

Nigerian officials since have alleged that Shekau was killed, though it is unclear whether that is truly the case. The Nigerian government's reiteration Thursday of its continued struggle to negotiate with the correct authority within Boko Haram highlights the precariousness of the situation – with the lives of the remaining abducted girls hanging in the balance.

In his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Buhari noted his "abiding faith in the United Nations."

"Nigeria has made remarkable progress in our resolve to defeat Boko Haram, whose capacity to launch orchestrated attacks as a formed group has been severely degraded," Buhari said.

He conceded the continued challenges of fighting the group, however, and noted particular concern about the group's actions sparking a sharp rise in internally displaced people.