The Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro yesterday informed the BBC Hausa service that there was no confirmation the kidnapped foreign hostages were dead.
He said, "As long as it remains unconfirmed, efforts will be made to ensure their rescue and security."
A spokesman for Nigeria's Ministry of Defence said that since this was a diplomatic incident, the presidency would have to make a statement on it.
Meanwhile, the federal government has refused to comment on the alleged gruesome murder of seven foreign hostages by an Islamist sect, Ansaru, despite their countries' confirmation of the killings.
Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, declined to speak on government's position on the matter when confronted by State House correspondents yesterday, maintaining that he had not been fully briefed.
"I don't have the full brief to brief you," Maku stated, while leaving the presidential villa, Abuja, after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.
When he was further asked to comment on the listing of Nigeria as a terrorist state by France over the incident, the minister simply smiled.
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The time for rhetoric is long gone. All the talk about amnesty is belated. These deadly low-lifers have gone over the top, crossed the line back and forth, over and over. Suggestion that over 3000 murders and senseless destruction be waved and the criminals compensated is treasonable. Those whose originality it is give encouragement for the barbaric conduct of those awusa islamists. They need to be subjected to criminal investigation for collaboration. The stereotyping of the whole nation by these savages is gratuitous. Not satisfied with the characterization of Nigeria with the ugly stigma of a terrorist nation through Umar Faruk Abdulmutallab, these same awusas have gone berserk, taking foreign nationals hostage and executing them. So far, no clear reasons were given by the terrorists for the kidnapping and executions. They neither demanded ransom, nor gave conditions for their release. All we know is their grouse with British “war plain” they suspected was on a rescue mission. Having pushed their criminality beyond limits, they do not expect Britain, France, whose nationals they murdered, to fold their hands, sit on them and say “thank you very, very much”? As it is, they are fair game and deserve anything they get, both from the Federal Government and the International Community. At this stage, there is no option but to eviscerate and degrade these mullahs out of existence. A bunch of tribal islamic bigots have no right to bring such gory stereotype upon an entire nation.