Nigeria has insisted it will not agree to a request to free imprisoned Islamic militants in return for the release of dozens of kidnapped schoolgirls.
Interior Minister Abba Moro said Boko Haram, the group holding the girls, was in no moral position to make the offer.
The group earlier released a video of the girls and suggested a swap, and a Nigerian official had said that all options were on the table.
Boko Haram snatched more than 200 girls from a school on 14 April.
About 50 children escaped, and it is not known how many are still being held.
The video released on Monday showed 136 girls, and was interspersed with militants explaining that they had “converted” to Islam.
The US state department said intelligence experts were closely examining the footage for clues to their whereabouts.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said on the video: “For those who have not accepted Islam, I swear to Allah we will never release them until after you release our brethren in your prison.”
While some of the girls have reportedly been married off to their captors, Abubakar Shekau had earlier threatened to sell some of them.
After the video was released, Information Ministry official Mike Omeri had suggested that “all options” were still being considered.
However, Mr Moro told the BBC that the government would not agree to any kind of swap deal.
“As far as this government is concerned, the option of swap of innocent citizens with people who have taken arms against the country, who has infracted on the laws of the country is not on the table,” he said.
The government has been under fire for failing to act fast enough.
BBC
