It was exactly eight years since the abduction of 276 girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State two weeks ago. Curiously, activities marking the day were relatively low, as it played second fiddle to politics. The Nation however reached out to some parents of some of the girls who are still in captivity and GBOYEGA ALAKA and JOEL DUKU report on their hopes and expectations.
How do parents retain their sanity, knowing that their young, impressionable girls have been in the custody of the dreaded Boko haram insurgents in the last eight years? How do they feel each time some of the girls return and their own daughters are not among them? Have they lost hope? If not, what’s keeping their hope alive and how have they lived each single day, knowing that there is the remote possibility that they may never set eyes on their children again? Does the government still reach out to them?
These were some of the questions The Nation sought answers for as the world marked the eighth anniversary of the unfortunate incident.
Recall that 276 girls were forcibly abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State in the night of April 14 and 15, 2014, pushing the hitherto little unknown town into global reckoning. Hope rose on a few occasions when news frittered in that the girls were back, as the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government stepped up efforts to fulfill its campaign promise of retrieving the girls, but only a handful of parents smiled on those occasions, leaving a huge number to return home in agony and despair. At the last count, a whopping 109 girls were still in captivity.
My life is completely shattered – Racheal Daniel
Racheal Daniel, mother of one of the girls in captivity, captured her predicament rather succinctly when she told our reporter in a telephone interview that “for the past 8 years, the government of President (Muhammadu) Buhari has promised they would bring back our children but there is no result up till now. They brought half of the children and left half with Boko Haram.
“But we are begging them not to be tired of us. They should try and find our children wherever they are and bring them back to us. They may be tired, but please tell them we have never stopped crying for our children, not even for a day.
“We sent our children to school to make a good life. We did not send them to school to be kidnapped or forced to be married to some people.
“Now, instead of the good life we craved for them, they are going through rough time while we their parents wallow in despair. Some of us parents have even died of blood pressure while others are battling different kinds of illnesses.”
Mrs Daniel, who is a widow, having lost her policeman husband on duty in Dikwa back in 2009, now ekes out a living as a sweeper to take care of her household of nine.
She said: “My life is completely shattered. I am begging the government. There are some of us, like me, who don’t even have husbands.
“Look at us now, our children, though alive, are not even available to help or support us, and neither can we help forgotten her, even for a day, in the past eight years. Except I die, I will never forget her, not even for a second.”
She however confessed that the incident has affected her desire for education.
“Honestly, I am afraid of sending children to school at the moment, especially boarding school. I cannot send any of my children to a boarding school again – except for a day school, where they would go and come back and sleep in the house with me. But boarding school? Over my dead body!”
We’re losing hope in President Buhari – Ya’ana Galang
Another mother, Ya’ana Galang, whose daughter, Rifkatu, is still in the hands of the abductors, told our correspondent that they are still holding President Buhari to his promise to get the girls back, even as an end to his regime draws nearer without any appreciable development or positive news.
“We are still counting on President Mohammadu Buhari. We still hold onto his word that he will rescue our daughters and reunite them with us before he leaves office.
“It is, however, not comforting that there is no news about our children up till now.
“What is worrisome to most of us is the fact that his tenure may soon end without him keeping his promise. That, I must say, is putting us in a total state of confusion.
“We demand action from the President from this moment. Eight years is not eight hours or eight days.”
Consequently, she said one of her topmost wishes is to meet with the President and remind him of the promise he made to them concerning their daughters.
“How I wish I had another opportunity to see the President. I will remind him of the promise he made to us.
“Look at me. I cried and wailed at the feet of the President, but up till this moment, I have not seen my daughter.”
She went further to narrate how the last eight years have been of hope and despair, and agony and pain, as no day passes without her remembering her daughter and daughters of her neighbours and family members still in captivity.
“No day passes without me thinking about Rifkatu. I have lived in this hopeful but sometimes hopeless situation in the last eight years.
“When are we going to reunite with our children? It is a question we don’t have answers to, except God almighty.
“But the government should show us concern by working hard to bring our daughters back to us.”
She recalled how excited she was when news of the first set of released girls reached her, and how she was devastated when it dawned on her that her daughter was not among them. Though consoled by the fact that her daughter was not the only one not released, she said her hope was rekindled when they met President Buhari at the Villa and he promised to bring back their daughters.
“I was one of the weeping Chibok women that held the feet of President Buhari and begged him to rescue our daughters and he promised to make it happen.
“We were hopeless but his words encouraged us and this is how we have been waiting in the last eight years,” Galang said.
She however said the incident has not dowsed her interest in school and education for her children.
“What Boko Haram has done will never change my perception about school. I still send my children to school.
“I will never deny my children education because of their ideologies. My children will always go to school as long as I am alive,” she said.
She maintained, however, that her only concern is to be reunited with her daughter alive, regardless of whether she is married or changed religion.
“My major concern is to see my daughter alive. I don’t care whether she is married to anybody or has converted to any other religion. These are not my problems now. I just want to see my daughter.
“If she is married and she has children, I will receive all of them. They are my grandchildren. Those are not my problem at all.”
Government not doing enough – Chibok girl who escaped
Hadiza Kwagui is one of the first set of girls who escaped the Chibok school abduction, having been initially taken alongside her mates. She is of the opinion that her mates have not been reunited with their parents because the government has not been doing enough.
Following that unfortunate incident and her escape, Hadiza went on to complete her secondary education at Bethel International Christians Academy, Jos. And while she awaits an opportunity for further studies, possibly in the United States of America like some of her colleagues, she is currently undergoing training in tailoring skills to earn some money and make better life for herself.
His brother, Ayuba Alamson, gave an insight into the suffering and challenges some of the returnee Chibok girls are going through.
Specifically, he said this was why he took it upon himself to register Ayuba Alamson Foundation, with the aim of mobilising people of goodwill to pull resources together to mitigate the sufferings of some of the returnee girls and help them realise their dreams in life.
His foundation, he explained, is out to see to the welfare of the returnee Chibok girls and even take care of some of the children they brought back from forced marriage while in Boko Haram captivity.
“We cannot reject our daughters or their children. Whatever happens, those children they brought back from captivity will remain part of our society.
“The primary aim of my foundation is to look at some of these challenges dispassionately and deal with them humanely. children they brought from those marriages are brought up to be useful to society. Neglecting them will be a fatal mistake on our part,” Alamson explained.
He lamented that the Federal Government is not doing enough to rescue the girls, expressing fears that some of them may have been killed by military operations and other factors.
He said: “It is clear that the government of Nigeria is not doing enough, especially on the rescue of the Chibok girls.
“This is the eighth year. Other abductions have taken place in various parts of the town and the children have been released.
“It has happened in Zamfara, Niger, Katsina, Kaduna and even the Dapchi girls in Yobe State. Why is the Chibok case different?”
Continuing, he said: “We hear that thousands of Boko Haram members have repented and surrendered. We also hear that the Army is rescuing hundreds of women and children. Why have they not once stumbled on where the Chibok girls are being kept and rescue
