President Muhammadu Buhari was on Thursday put under renewed pressure to rescue the 219 girls kidnapped two years ago from their school in Chibok, Borno State by the notorious sect, Boko Haram.
The pressure is coming after the release of a new video by the Cable News Network (CNN), showing that the girls are alive with 15 of the girls are shown on the global television.
In Abuja, members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign attempted to march on the Presidential Villa, but they were stopped by the police.
There was a protest in Lagos by women wearing red- the symbol of the campaign. They were at Alausa, the seat of the state government, demanding that the Federal Government should put in more efforts in rescuing the girls.
But Buhari told the girls’ parents that he felt their pains and reiterated his promise to bring the girls back home.
At the National Assembly, the Senate resolved to invite security chiefs to shed light on the battle to free the girls. The House of Representatives called on Buhari to rescue the girls.
In the United States, the Congress said it was ready to help.
A group of South Africans in Johannesburg also Thursday carried placards calling for the rescue of the girls.
In Abuja, the campaigners said the proof of life video, released to the public by the CNN on Wednesday is a vindication of their position that the girls are still alive.
The group said the released video is a glimmer of hope for their members and the Chibok community after many people advised them to give up and believe the girls dead.
Thursday’s march also ended the day seven of the global week of action for the Chibok girls.
The group’s position is contained in a statement read by leader of the #BBOG strategic team, Aisha Yesufu and signed by former Minister of Education and leader #BBOG Dr. Oby Ezekwesilli.
“Our Federal Government, the military and the broader security team are less persuasive on the matter of our 219 Chibok girls, with the strong promise made by Mr President to rescue them as a matter of priority, we hoped that there would by now be a positive outcome on the search and rescue operation mounted for them.
“Our position to the proof of life video is that we see it as a glimmer of light. When we persisted in demanding for our Chibok girls, many people say to us, it is already too late, why are you persisting in demanding for these girls?
“The girls may already be dead and we say to them, we have no counter-factual evidence to the fact that our Chibok girls are still alive. To that extent, therefore, seeing such a video is an important cautious renewal of hope for us.
“We therefore have advised our Federal Government to consider that video an important tool, alongside several other leads that are being offered to use in scrutinising all information that would lead us to the whereabout of our Chibok girls and thereafter to make informed decisions as to the lowest cost, lowest risk option for rescuing our girls.
“We believe that the proof of life video would be a good place to start in scrutinising every possible lead that is provided our government on the whereabouts of our citizens. It should, as it escalates the rescue operation use the government-civil society roundtable to constantly provide progress reports of the operation and other related activities.
“Our movement will not stop reminding our President and the FG of their constitutional mandate and his personal pledge to rescue our Chibok girls. For 716 days we have advocated relentlessly and shall continue until our girls are rescued.
“The symbolism of our march is to reiterate that the rescue of our Chibok girls, other victims of terrorism, resolving the humanitarian crises in the Northeast, tackling of the grossly worrying problems of herders attacks on citizens as symbolised in Agatu; disclosing all military misdemeanours against civilians in their communities across the country, tackling the problem of endangered education of millions of children in Internally Displaced Persons’ camps nationwide, are the primary duties of government led by the federal authorities in Nigeria.”
The leadership of the Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) called on the government to rebuild the burnt Chibok school, which is yet to be constructed despite the widely publicised reconstruction foundation laying ceremony by the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
KADA said as peace gradually returns to the Northeast, government and development partners under the Safe School Initiative should fast-track the completion of the Chibok burnt school for education of the children to begin.
Abuja branch Chairman Tsambido Hosea and National Secretary Battah Ndirpaya said that “After the abduction, Chibok area was attacked severally with resultant high casualties, including 11 of the parents and guardians of the abducted girls, with four killed by Boko Haram insurgents and seven due to trauma related cases.
“A project worth mentioning today is the Chibok burnt school, the school where the girls were abducted is yet to be constructed over one year after the widely publicised reconstruction foundation laying ceremony by the previous government.
“As peace gradually returns to the Northeast, we urge the government and its development partners under the Safe School Initiative (SSI) to fast track the completion of the Chibok burnt school for the education of children to commence.
“KADA wishes to use this opportunity to appeal to Mr President to set up special search and rescue team with a special mandate to locate and rescue the Chibok girls.”
Follow Us
