The federal government is aware of the location of the girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok last month, and they will soon be reunited with their families, senior special assistant to the president on public affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe has said. Defending the government\u2019s response to the kidnap, Okupe revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan had already deployed more than 20,000 soldiers to Borno even\u00a0before news of the abduction went viral. This, he argued, is contrary to speculations that the president has done very little to\u00a0rescue them, evidenced by the\u00a0various protests across the nation and beyond. \u201cWe have located the girls and they will be safely returned to their parents. That\u00a0President Jonathan did not make a show of his activities when the issue of Chibok girls broke out did not mean he was not doing anything,\u201d Okupe told CNN during an interview. \u201cMore than 20,000 soldiers have been deployed to strengthen the fight against Boko Haram. Two weeks ago further deployment was also made.\u201d He expressed delight that neighbouring countries have \u2014 for the first time \u2014 agreed to partner Nigeria in ridding its borders of terrorism. \u201cRecently the effect of the outcome of what happened in Paris is paying off. For the first time, the security agencies in neighbouring countries like Chad, Niger and Cameroon have agreed [to work with Nigeria against terrorism], and are already working with the Nigerian security agencies. This is the greatest development in this matter that we are in,\u201d he said. On ongoing collaborations between Nigeria and other countries who have volunteered help, he explained that\u00a0the Nigerian military has been providing the manpower while relying on the international community for expertise. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any serious expertise and surveillance in this insurgency,\u201d he said. \u201cOur partnership with the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada and all other foreigners, [it] is for them to provide expertise for us, because these countries have had longer experiences in dealing with rescue operations and insurgency.\u201d<\/p>\n