Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has advised the Federal Government not to play politics with the lives of the abducted Chibog girls. Falana, in a statement titled “How not to search for Chibok girls”, yesterday in Lagos, berated former President Olusegun Obasanjo for making what he described as unguarded statements over his intention to reach out to the Boko Haram sect, unlike other individuals and groups who have been working quietly to secure the release of the abducted girls.
The former President, according to him, reportedly said last week that “some of the girls would not be reunited with their families while others might have become pregnant”.
To the Lagos lawyer, the statement credited to Obasanjo is “callous and insensitive”. It dashed the hopes and accentuates the agony of the parents and friends of the missing girls, said Falana, stressing that “no individual or group should play politics with the tragedy of the abduction”. The activist also lashed out at the government for resorting to cheap blackmail because of the global agitation for the missing girls. “The Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, insisted that the “Bring Back Our Girls” rallies were being organised by the opposition. A few days later, some sponsored thugs unleashed violence on the unarmed protesters at the Unity Fountain at Abuja. The team of police personnel at the venue neither stopped the unprovoked attack nor made any arrest.
“Since the violent attack did not deter the protesters, the Police Commissioner of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Joseph Mbu, announced that the “Bring Back Our Girls” rallies had been banned with ‘immediate effect’. As the ban embarrassed the Federal Government, the Inspector-General of police reversed it. Even though the ban has been challenged in court, the protests have since continued,” he noted. He also lamented the manner in which some top officials of the Federal Government and influential members of the ruling party publicly denied that the Chibok girls were abducted, saying that it smacks of insensitivity.
“The official denial continued even after the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was compelled to publish the names of 180 of the missing girls. But for the identification of the abducted girls in the video footage released by the terrorists, the official denial might have continued. It was at that juncture that concerned women and men in Nigeria began the “Bring Back Our Girls” Campaign through peaceful rallies. Many people have joined the campaign in many parts of the world,” Falana noted.
The activist noted that Boko Haram had continued to operate in the Northeast, despite the fact that the area had been under emergency rule for over six months, without any resistance from the security forces.
Falana said the on-going peaceful rallies would continue to remind the Federal Government of its responsibility to rescue the abducted girls and guarantee the security of every person in the country.. “Let the peaceful rallies continue to challenge the leaders of the satanic sect to release the abducted girls. Let the peaceful rallies continue to assure the parents of the abducted girls that we shall not cease to protest until the girls are brought back,” Falana said.
Also yesterday, security analyst Hussani Monguno accused President Goodluck Jonathan and his leadership of protecting the sponsors of Boko Haram.
He said it is the duty of the army to protect the interest of all the states, including Borno if the President is not ready to do it.
Monguno also added that all the budgetary allocations given to the military are enough to buy aircraft capable of taking clear pictures to determine the movement of the insurgents.
He spoke at the usual sit-out of protesters of the abduction of the over 200 girls of the Government Secondary School, Chibok. He accused government of looking the other way and not using the intelligence reports submitted to it.
Monguno said: “It is either somebody is interested in promoting the insurgency for their own comfort or political reasons; otherwise, if it is the army that I know, we are capable. The Nigerian army is capable of foiling any attempt but the responsibility of whether this rescue is really important lies on the President. A couple of times he did say that he is going to withdraw the military.”
