The United States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson on Monday pledged the support of the US in facilitating the quick release of the Dapchi schoolgirls and the remaining Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram militants.

Tillerson, who gave the assurance while fielding questions from State House correspondents shortly after his closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja expressed hope that a deal for the peaceful release of the girls would soon be struck.

He said the US government would be actively involved in all efforts for the release of the Dapchi girls, the same way it had been part of the negotiations that resulted in the release of some of the Chibok girls.

Mr. Tillerson however expressed concern that the threat posed by the Boko Haram terrorists had spread beyond the shores of Nigeria and West Africa, adding that the terrorist group now constitutes a major threat to other regions of Africa.

According to him, although the US recognizes Nigeria as a country with its own territorial integrity, it had continued to support the West African country in the provision of equipment and training of personnel for special operations.

His words: “First, we respect the responsibilities of the government of Nigeria and the territorial integrity of Nigeria. But the way we support is in providing them capability with equipment and also training of the personnel for special operations and sharing intelligence to ensure that they have all the information available to carry out the recovery effort.

“But I think it is important to put this in a broad regional context as well. Boko Haram is a threat to other regions and this has been the subject of the meetings elsewhere and in Africa as well.

Tillerson said he had also discussed the issue of Boko Haram with President Idriss Deby of Chad and reiterated the importance of the powerful collaboration between the Multinational Joint Task Force which Nigeria was a part of.

“So the United States is ready to engage and coordinate efforts as well. But we have been supporting, equipping, training and when we can, provide information.

“I think that is the best way we have been helping the government of Nigeria secure the release of the girls, which we hope will be done in a peaceful manner. We hope that something can be worked out and they can secure the release of these girls quickly,” he added.

Although slated to spend the night in Nigeria, Mr. Tillerson’s visit to Africa was however cut short due to what his spokesmen said were pressing issues that needed his attention in Washington DC.