Anxious families wait and hope after 'deal' over kidnapped girls

More than 24 hours after Nigerian officials claimed to have reached a deal with Boko Haram militants to free more than 200 schoolgirls, relatives of the teenagers were still anxiously waiting for news about their return.

Government and military officials said on Friday that they had struck a cease-fire agreement with the Islamists ravaging the country's north.

The deal reportedly included the release of the 219 girls whom the extremists seized from their school in April. The case drew global outrage and sparked a BringBackOurGirls campaign supported by the likes of US first lady Michelle Obama and Pakistani Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai.

But there was still no confirmation from Boko Haram's leader, and some senior Nigerian officials have questioned the claim.

Reports on Saturday of attacks by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram Islamists in Abadam, a town near the border with Niger, further threw the purported truce into doubt. The claims could not be independently verified.

The precedent of previous government and military claims about an end to the deadly five-year conflict and the fate of the missing teenagers have also left the relatives cautious.

"We hope it is not deception because we have some doubt," said Enoch Mark from Chibok - the town where the girls, including his daughter and two nieces, were kidnapped.

'Itching to hear'

"This is what we have been itching to hear for the past six months," said Ayuba Chibok, whose niece is among those seized. "My prayer is that the two sides will honor the agreement."

Friday's announcement was made by Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff Air Marshal Alex Badehand and Hassan Tukur, a senior aide to President Goodluck Jonathan.

But the Nigerian government's security spokesman, Mike Omeri, said no deal had yet been reached on releasing the girls.

And Ralph Bello-Fadile, an adviser to Nigeria's National Security Adviser, cautioned that the NSA has been inundated with fraudsters claiming to represent Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

The United States said it could not confirm whether a deal had been reached.

Jonathan was expected to declare his bid for re-election in the coming weeks, and positive news about the hostages and the violence would give him a political boost.

(China Daily 10/20/2014 page12)