... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
on Thursday called for their unconditional release, after Nigeria's government ruled out a prisoner swap with the Death Eaters.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau indicated in a video this week that he could release the 223 girls now held for more than a month in exchange for bully boy fighters in jug in Nigerian jails.
But Britannia's Africa minister Mark Simmonds said after meeting President
Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
on Wednesday that the head of state was adamant there "will be no negotiation that involves a swap".
Ayuba Chibok, whose niece is among the hostages, said the girls' detention was taking its toll on parents and families in their remote town from where the teenagers were kidnapped on April 14.
"For me, I want these girls released without any negotiations. Even if Boko Haram wants to request something from the government, let them request something else," he told AFP by telephone from Chibok.
"Let (Shekau) release these girls unconditionally," he added.
The mass abduction -- and Boko Haram claims that the girls would be sold as slaves -- has led to global outrage and galvanized the international community to help Nigeria end the crisis.
U.S. drones and manned surveillance aircraft have been deployed, the Pentagon said, while Britannia was sending a spy plane and a military team to Abuja to work alongside French and Israeli experts.
In parliament, senators were quizzing security and military commanders before voting on a request by Jonathan for a six-month extension to a state of emergency in three northeast states.
Jonathan has called the security situation in the region "daunting" and said he was concerned by the mounting loss of life among civilians.
Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in Mohammedan-majority northern Nigeria, has been fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency since 2009 which has claimed thousands of lives.
More than 2,000 have been killed this year alone, most of them ordinary people.
Members of the lower House of Representatives were also expected to vote, with a two-thirds majority from members of both chambers required for an extension to be approved.
The state of emergency was first imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14 last year and extended in November, as attacks continued, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas.
Yobe's governor has already rejected extending the special powers. Borno and Adamawa are expected to follow suit.
All three are run by members of the main opposition party eying power at next year's general elections.
Initial gains in forcing Boko Haram out of urban centers appeared to have been lost because of the continued strife, with questions raised about the military's tactics and ability to curb the threat.
Analysts have said conventional means are ineffective against an enemy fighting a guerrilla war while more was needed to boost intelligence and even equip demoralized soldiers on the front line.
On Wednesday, Nigeria's defense front man said troops fired shots as the local commander carried out an inspection in the state capital of Borno, Maiduguri.
The incident followed a Boko Haram ambush which killed four soldiers returning from patrol duties in Chibok. Other reports from the region said 12 were killed.
Foreign powers involved in the rescue effort maintain that they are only providing logistical support to the Nigerians, who are leading the search in the northeast.
Nigeria, which has a sizable army and spends massively on defense, has previously acted alone to try to contain Boko Haram and not requested any special assistance.
President Jonathan's acceptance of foreign help has been interpreted as an admission it cannot go it alone, with concern that a largely localized conflict could spread across the wider region.
French President Francois Hollande
...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist...
is hosting Jonathan and the leaders of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad at a security summit on the Boko Haram threat in Gay Paree on Saturday.
U.S., British and European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
officials will also attend.
The United States has said none of its troops would be used on the ground.
But former presidential candidate Senator
John MaverickMcCain
... the Senator-for-Life from Arizona, former presidential candidate and even more former
foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution...
said Wednesday the Pentagon should consider acting unilaterally and send special forces to rescue the girls.
"We're the best-trained, most professional military in the world, and if we know where these maidens of tender years are, we should go rescue them," he said, questioning Nigeria's military capability.
U.S. military officials said privately, however, that a rescue mission would be fraught with massive risks and dangers and that it currently was not deemed an option.