Nigeria hopes 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist group Boko Haram will be freed by Tuesday, according to a government source.
Authorities earlier said they had agreed a ceasefire with the militant group to make the release possible.
"I can confirm the Federal Government is working hard to meet its own part of the agreement so that the release of the abductees can by effected either on Monday or latest by Tuesday next week," the source said.
But Bana Lawan, chairman of Chibok Local Government Area urged caution and said: "We don't know how true it is until we prove it. We will know the negotiations were successful when we see the girls physically.
"Then we will know it is true. And then we will celebrate."
Community leader Pogu Bitrus said: "People rejoiced, but with caution."
Both men said residents have been disappointed too many times in the past by reports of progress by Nigeria's government and military that later proved to be false.
On Friday, French President Francois Hollande welcomed the "good news" and told a news conference in Paris that the girls' release "could happen in the coming hours and days."
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Gallery: Profile: Boko Haram Leader
Abubakar Shekau is the leader of Boko Haram. He took control of the Islamist group after the death of founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009.
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Little is known about him, although he was born in Shekau village in the northeastern state of Yobe and is now thought to be in his early 40s.
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Shekau is Nigeria's most-wanted man and was designated a terrorist by the U.S. government in 2012. A reward of $7m (£4.6m) and 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) has been issued for information leading to his location.
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Shekau is also known as "Darul Tawheed", a reference to his knowledge of an orthodox doctrine of Islam centred on the oneness of Allah.
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Nigerian authorities thought he had been killed in 2009 during clashes with security forces, but he reappeared in a video in 2010 to claim leadership of Boko Haram.
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Shekau is believed to have been behind the August 2011 bombing of the UN compound in the capital Abuja, which killed at least 21 people.
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In a video released after the abduction of 276 girls from a boarding school in the village of Chibok on April 14, he described the youngsters as "slaves" and threatened to "sell them in the market".
France had been involved in negotiations that led to the release of several of its citizens kidnapped by Boko Haram in Cameroon.
Boko Haram (their name means 'education is sinful') kidnapped the 276 girls at gunpoint from a school in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria, on April 14.
Some of the girls managed to escape in the aftermath of their kidnap or during fighting among militants, but 219 are still unaccounted for.
The group has demanded the release of detained extremists in exchange for the girls.
Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said Boko Haram had "assured Nigerian authorities that the Chibok schoolgirls are well and safe".
The country's leader, Goodluck Jonathan, has faced strong criticism over a deteriorating security situation in Nigeria, with areas in the northeast Borno state inaccessible due to the threat from Boko Haram.
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