The girls had been lifted from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok, April 2014, stoking “global outrage”.

“If we are convinced that the [Boko Haram] leadership that presented itself can deliver these girls safe and sound, we’ll be prepared to negotiate what they want”, President Buhari, the ex-Nigerian military ruler said. His four-day visit included talks with US President Barack Obama.

“The government that I lead is committed and would do whatever it takes to free Nigerians from the menace of terrorism”.

A radical Islamist group, Boko Haram, has continued to conduct suicide bombings and deadly raids against Nigerian civilians in the country’s north despite the Nigerian military’s all-out offensive to oust the group from territory it had captured. Boko Haram’s recent targeting of moderate Muslim clerics, evangelical churches and perceived “non-believers” during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, however, has made that pledge a reality.

He admits, however, that Nigerian authorities have no intelligence information about the kidnapped girls. And it was an affirmation of Nigeria’s commitment to democracy, a recognition that although Nigeria is a big country and a diverse country with many different parts, nevertheless the people of Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful political process can change take place.

Some arrivals said they ran out of food while taking refuge in the border area and hoped for food distributions at the Minawao camp.

“The Vice President reiterated USA support for Nigeria’s efforts to not only defeat Boko Haram militarily, but also to invest in development and create the conditions for lasting security, stability, and economic prosperity in northern Nigeria”, a White House statement said.

The president said he told the United States president that he would send a formal invitation to him.

Speaking to the press shortly after the audience, General Donald Bolduc was happy with the state of on-going cooperation between the United States of America and Cameroon, especially as concerns the fight against Boko Haram. Buhari said that new military chiefs were retraining forces and would adhere to internationally acceptable rules of engagement. He did not specify how the government would go about the task of recovering the money.

In his column, President Buhari also wrote that he was seeking USA assistance in “locating and returning $150 billion in funds stolen in the past decade and held in foreign bank accounts on behalf of former, corrupt officials”.