Nigerian President, Military Reportedly at Odds Over Plans to Save Kidnapped Girls

The kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls have been missing for more than one month, and a new report from the Associated Press claims that Nigeria's president and military are at odds over a plan to save them.

Heavily armed members of the terrorist organization, Boko Haram, abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from their dormitory last month. Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video saying that he planned to sell the girls in the market. He later released another video, that claimed to show the abducted girls, and said he would release the girls when the Nigeria government released imprisoned Boko Haram members.

Nigera's president has reportedly refused to release Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the girls release, while the Nigerian military claims to have located the girls but fears that using force to save the children could result in their death.

According to the Associated Press, "Previous military attempts to free hostages have led to the prisoners being killed by their abductors, including the deaths of a British and an Italian engineer in northern Sokoto town in March 2012."

Since the abduction, the Nigerian government has faced international criticism, with human rights group Amnesty International reporting that Nigerian security forces had advance warning of the raid that resulted in the mass kidnapping.