Hostage talks

Former Nigerian president Olesegun Obasanjo has held talks with people close to the Islamist group Boko Haram to try to secure the release of more than 200 schoolgirls abducted from their dormitories last month. Details of the talks, with men described as relatives of the Boko Haram militants, emerged after the head of Nigeria’s armed forces, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, ruled out a military operation because of the risk that the hostages would be killed.