The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Monday denied ordering the arrest of a leader of protesters that stormed the National Assembly last week over abduction of 234 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State, Naomi Murlah.
A statement issued by the Media Assistant at the Office of the First Lady, Ayo Adewuyi, reads “Our attention has been drawn to media reports that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, ordered the arrest of a woman who attended the women stakeholders’ meeting discussing ways and best strategies to ensure the release of the abducted children of Government Girls secondary School, Chibok.
“We wish to state without any iota of equivocation that the First Lady did not order the arrest of any woman or any one for that matter before, during and after the meeting.
“It is instructive to note that the meeting ended after 3am on Monday morning and all those invited to the meeting including a handful of journalists who stayed throughout the lengthy meeting left the Presidential Villa thereafter.
“The Naomi Murlah mentioned in one of the reports came to the meeting as part of Borno delegation. The women were alarmed when someone who knew her told the meeting that she was impersonating one of the mothers of the allegedly abducted children on the basis for which she attended the meeting.”
“The women expressed their disappointment when she confirmed that she is not a biological mother to any of the abducted children.”
“Naomi left the State House with other members of the delegation. If she was arrested as claimed, then enquiries about her arrest should therefore be directed to the security agencies. It is an unfounded rumour which the First Lady knows nothing about.”
Tag: Chibok abduction
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First Lady didn’t order anybody’s arrest – Aide
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Civil society groups protest Chibok abduction in Lagos
Civil society groups and women on Monday stormed the office of Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), to protest the abduction of 234 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
The protest march, organised by Women for Peace and Justice in Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, was attended by various civil society coalition groups, accompanied by their male counterparts, including rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).
They were dressed in red outfit, and began the street protest at about 9am at Allen Roundabout, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja, before marching in unison to the governor’s office in Alausa.
Armed with placards some of which read, “Bring back our girls,” “Our future leaders are missing, bring them back,” “Chad, Cameroon and Niger, stop enabling criminals,” “We want our girls back alive,” “Save innocent girls,” “Enough is Enough,” “234 girls, Haba!” and “FGN, Free the Chibok Girls,” among others.
Their activities however caused intermittent traffic gridlock on Awolowo Way as they marched along the road singing and demanding for the release of the children.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the former Attorney General of Lagos State, Justice Wonu Folami (rtd), said the protesters were at the State House to express their grievances over the abduction of the girls in Borno State.
“Our children have been brutally murdered. Over 200 girls were kidnapped, this is very sad that nothing is being done about it. It is sad that the government does not even know the number of girls that are missing.
“We want security to be redoubled immediately. We want them back alive and without them, there can be no tomorrow. Fashola should double his effort to provide security in Lagos State as there are insinuations that they might strike here,” she said.
Falana on his part said, “We demand on the part of the government immediate rescue operation of these girls so that that they can join their parents. We urged the Lagos State government to help convey this message to the Federal Government.
“Until these girls are released, we cannot give the government any pass mark, we want the government to redouble its efforts so that these girls can be returned to their parents. We call on the government to deploy all military forces in Nigeria to collaborate with the international organisations and countries that have gone through this before t ensure the freedom of these abducted girls.
Receiving the protesters, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said the state government would work with the federal government to ensure the girls were released, adding that it is disheartening to hear that 234 girls were kidnapped.
“We are pained as mothers for this to be happening to our girls. We will do our best to ensure that they are released. All of us should pray and fast for the release of these children because we believe God can do it,” the deputy governor said. -
Protest leader arrested over alleged impersonation
The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, on Monday reportedly ordered the arrest of the leader of a group popularly known as “Bring Back our Girls,” whose name is Naomi.
She had last week led about 500 women on protest march to National Assembly over the reported abduction of about 234 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State.
She was arrested for impersonation during the stakeholders’ meeting convened at the First Lady’s conference room at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
While all the women at the meeting wrote down their real names at the entrance of the building, Naomi who is a Deputy Director at the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Abuja, wrote down her name as Grace, which is one of the names of those expected to attend the meeting from Borno State.
The First Lady also disclosed that Naomi had claimed that she was one of the parents whose children were abducted at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
She said: “When they said they have come to lay complain to the government and the National Assembly, I asked for the leader of the mothers whose children were abducted, this woman was the one that came forward and said that her child was abducted. I believed her and I asked the Women Affairs Minister to follow her to the National Assembly.”
“This is the woman who went to National Assembly with the women in black and she claimed that her child was missing and that she is the leader of parents whose children are missing in Chibok. The Senate President believed them, I also believed them too.”
Continuing, she said: “God is leading us to the truth. Our coming out is not in vain. She called people like Oby to follow her as they also believed her. Oby is innocent and I don’t blame her because even me as First Lady, I was moved too.”“Today, when I sighted her, I told myself that we will get to the conclusion today because one of those whose child is missing is here. But to my greatest surprise, when we asked her, she said she is a representative of one of the groups calling for the release of the girls. She wrote down her name as Grace. A whole civil servant impersonating, she should be arrested for impersonation.”
Directing the Commissioner of Police at the meeting to take action on the matter, she said: “You have to take this woman to IGP and the President.”
When quizzed at the meeting, Naomi admitted that she had no child among the abducted children but that she was contacted to represent one of those expected to attend the meeting at the First Lady’s conference room.
She said: “It was in the morning that somebody called me from Borno State, one Mrs. Grace. She said that she was supposed to come. But that since we are here as Chibok representatives, that we should represent her here.”
Asked whether she has been to Chibok in last one year, she said: “I have not gone to Chibok in the past one year.”
At that point, the Minister of Women Affairs, Zainab Maina, disclosed that the woman had last week claimed that she was a mother to one of the abducted girls.