President Muhammadu Buhari has declared he would continue talks with Boko Haram insurgents for the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls, as long as international agencies like the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, will be involved.

President Buhari made the remarks at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday while meeting with the president of the ICRC, Peter Maurer.

He commended the role played by the Red Cross in the Thursday’s release of the 21 abducted Chibok schoolgirls, urging the organisation to keep up with its humanitarian interest in Nigeria.

Buhari however stressed that Nigeria’s biggest problem was, perhaps, the issue of internally displaced persons, IDPs.

He noted that there were over two million IDPs in the country, comprising of “over 60% women and children.”

“About 60% of the children don’t know their parents, or where they come from. It is weighing heavily on government,” Buhari said.

He assured that his government is taking the rebuilding of destroyed infrastructure in the Northeast as top priority, pointing out that the G7 nations had equally indicated support which Nigeria heartily welcomed.

Buhari also said he was pleased that the Red Cross recognized that the Nigerian military is co-operating with civil authorities, and respecting humanitarian rights in their operations against the terrorists.