The military on Wednesday insisted it knows where the over 200 kidnapped school girls were been held hostage and is working discreetly to ensure their safety is not compromised.

Defence spokesperson, Chris Olukolade, major general, said this at the regular briefing at the National Information Centre, which holds at the headquarters of National Orientation Agency, NOA, in Abuja.

“Let everyone believe what the Chief of Defence Staff said and if you don’t believe, wait for developments but our interest is in the safety of these children and every effort will be put towards that and we expect cooperation from everyone,” he said.

Address the issue of recent attacks on Buni Yadi, Yobe State, the defence spokesman confirmed that 12 soldiers and 13 policemen were killed during the fighting on Monday, but denied insinuations that the troops in Buni Yadi were abandoned by the military command during the hours of the incident.

“The logistics will have to be understood and it will not be proper just to conclude that there were no help or response. However, we will continue to respond based on logistics that is available and information that is made available as quickly as possible,” he said.

His reaction to reports that Boko Haram terrorists hoisted their flags in communities recently attacked as a sign of conquest was that the Nigerian military would continue to defend territorial integrity of the country.

“Nigerian armed forces will not allow any portion of this country to bear any strange flag. It is our duty and responsibility to defend the territorial integrity of this country. We will not allow any strange flag to fly anywhere,” he assured.