PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday, finally met some of the girls who escaped from Boko Haram’s den, their parents, parents of some of those still in captivity, as well as community and opinion leaders from Chibok, Borno State.This came 99 days after the Boko Haram sect abducted about 300 girls in Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
Fifty seven girls and 184 parents, guardians, community and opinion leaders from the town were brought into the Presidential Villa in four long buses, where they met with the president in a closed door session for about two and a half hours.
Also in the meeting were the Senate President, David Mark; Governors Kashim Shettima of Borno and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi; ministers including Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Finance) and Ibrahim Shekarau (Education); National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) and the Chief of Staff to the President, Brigadier-General Jones Arogbofa.
The meeting was in fulfilment of the promise made by the president to Pakistani teen girls education campaigner, Malala Yousafzai, during her recent meeting with Jonathan in the State House, Abuja.
Jonathan had come under severe criticism, particularly from the opposition, for seemingly refusing to visit Chibok since after the abduction saga.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, quoted the president as saying that he wanted to visit Chibok after the remaining girls in captivity had been rescued.
He said the president also dismissed accusation of remaining aloof over the abduction.
“Anyone who gives you the impression that we are aloof and that we are not doing what we are supposed to do to get the girls out is not being truthful.
“Our commitment is not just to get the girls out, it is also to rout Boko Haram completely from Nigeria. But we are very, very mindful of the safety of the girls. We want to return them all alive to their parents. If they are killed in any rescue effort, then we have achieved nothing,” Abati quoted the president to have said.
The presidential aide said Jonathan had the opportunity to listen to the girls, parents and community leaders, adding that the girls recounted their ordeals, while the president assured them that those still in captivity would be rescued.
“It was an interactive session during which the president had the opportunity to listen first hand to the various categories of persons.
“It was a very successful event and a good development, because Mr President had always been looking forward to this opportunity.
“Before now, he had met with various stakeholders on the matter but today, he heard directly from the persons involved.
“Statements were made by all the representatives of people. They spoke their minds and conveyed their feelings to the president.
“The girls who escaped also gave an account of what they went through. Mr President reassured them of the Federal Government’s determination and his own personal determination to ensure that the girls still in captivity are brought out alive.
“That is the main objective of the government. Mr President also used the opportunity to empathise with the parents and the girls and to reassure them that everything will be done to make things easier for them, especially those who have escaped and the ones that will also be rescued and that their education will not in anyway suffer.”
Also speaking to reporters, Minister of Education, Mallam Shekarau, dismissed suggestions that the meeting was belated, as he argued that what was important was the efforts being put in to resolve the situation.
“It is not a question of how many days, or how long, it is a question of what is being done. As various government spokesmen have been saying, this is a very serious matter of security.
“I think we should appreciate this and rather than counting the days and how long, I think we should be concerned with how much effort is being made and we should jointly pray for this struggle,” he said.
The minster expressed concern over the politicisation of the issue of the abduction, noting what should be more important was the continuation of education of the escaped girls still at home.
Shekarau further explained that the meeting was intended to be interactive, so that the president would listen to the parents, community leaders and, most importantly, to some of the girls that escaped from Sambisa forest.
It was reported that the parents showed no emotion after the meeting, but some shook hands with the president.
On the bright side, some of the young women who escaped are recovering, said a health worker, who insisted on anonymity because he feared reprisals from Boko Haram. Girls who had first refused to discuss their experience now are talking about it and taking part in therapeutic singing and drawing.
“Girls who said they would never go back to school now are thinking about how to continue their education,” the health worker said.
All the escapees, he added, remained concerned about their schoolmates still in captivity.
A presidential committee investigating the kidnappings said 219 girls were still missing, but the community said there were more, because some parents refused to give the committee names of their daughters, fearing the stigma involved.
Most of the schoolgirls are still believed to be held in the Sambisa Forest — a wildlife reserve that includes almost impenetrable thick jungle, as well as open savannah. The forest borders on sand dunes marking the edge of the Sahara Desert.
Chibok abduction: FG warns against 100-day rally
FOLLOWING the proposed rally by the #BringBackOurGirls protesters to mark 100 days of captivity of the Chibok schoolgirls, the Federal Government, on Tuesday, cautioned parents and guardians not to allow their children to participate in the rally.
The coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, gave the advice during the routine briefing on mission to rescue the abducted girls.
“Information available to us is that some groups are planning to mobilise children across the country to hold rally to mark 100 days since the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted from their school.
“It will be wise for parents not to allow their children to participate and if they want to, they should be conscious of who they are releasing their children to for the rally,” Omeri said.
He added that government would not prevent citizens from exercising their constitutional rights, adding, however, that it would be proper if the security situation in the country is not worsened.
#BringBackOurGirls holds press conferences worldwide
THE BringBackOurGirls campaign movement will, today, organise various activities around the world to mark 100 days since the 276 girls were kidnapped from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State.
The movement, in a statement signed by its six coordinators – Hadiza Balance Usman, Oby Ezekwesili, Aisha Oyebode, Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, Amina Hanga and Eleanor Ann Nwadinobi, stated that apart from creating awareness, which was its priority, it had successfully engaged stakeholders during the past 100 days.
Part of the activities, as stated in the statement, included a press conference, which will come up at the BRECAN Centre by 10.00 a.m.
Other programmes lined up for the day also include special sit-out ceremony at the Unity Fountain, Abuja by 3.00 p.m, remembrance service at the Wall of Missing Girls at Falomo Roundabout, Lagos, by 4.00 p.m and a candle light vigil at the Nigerian Consulate in New York, United States (US).
Events to mark the 100 days of the Chibok girls in captivity will also come up in India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and world capitals, where there are teachers’ organisations, in partnership with the office of the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy, Gordon Brown.
The movement noted that it had engaged various stakeholders, such as the presidency, the National Assembly, the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Chief of Defence Staff, the Borno State government and other state governments, ECOWAS member-countries and the UN agencies to demand the release of the girls.
It said “the BringBackOurGirls campaign has focused on creating awareness of the abduction, to ensure that it is a priority issue requiring action and compelling the right sets of action for a positive outcome.”
The group added that “we continue to demand that the Federal Government deploy its resources to ensure that the missing girls are brought home and the errors from three-weeks of delayed action remedied.”
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