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Tag: Chibok girls

  • Chibok girls: Ex-Service Chiefs committed blunders, says don

    Chibok girls: Ex-Service Chiefs committed blunders, says don

    A political scientist, Dr. Gbade Ojo, yesterday faulted the former Service Chiefs for committing security blunders, especially on the abduction of the Chibok girls.

    He said it was unprofessional for them to announce the locations of the Chibok girls without liberating them.

    Ojo, who spoke in an interview in Ibadan, said the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to sack them was in line with the need to re-strategise on the security lapses in the country. He said there was a serious strategic lapse on the  part of one of the former Service chiefs for disclosing the whereabouts of the Chibok girls, which, he added, should have been made a secret.

    “ Immediately he made the announcement, the girls were relocated. That was a serious lapse on the part of that particular service chief,” Ojo said.

    He advised the newly-appointed Service chiefs to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors, saying they should collaborate with their colleagues in neighbouring countries.

    Ojo noted  that the country’s techno-economic structure needed to be improved upon to tackle terrorism threats, adding that without technology, terrorism  could not be fought effectively.

  • Boko Haram offers to swap prisoners with Chibok girls

    Boko Haram offers to swap prisoners with Chibok girls

    Boko Haram extremists are offering to free more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped from a boarding school in exchange for the release of militant leaders held by the government, a ‘negotiator’ told The Associated Press.

    He said Boko Haram’s offer is limited to the girls whose mass abduction in April 2014 ignited worldwide outrage and a campaign to “Bring Back Our Girls” that stretched to the White House.

    The initiative reopens an offer made last year to the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan to release the 219 students in exchange for 16 Boko Haram detainees, he said. The man, who was involved in negotiations with Boko Haram last year and is close to current negotiators, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters on this sensitive issue.

    “Another window of opportunity opened,” in the last few days, according to Fred Eno, who has been negotiating with Boko Haram for more than a year.

    He said he could not discuss details but explained that the recent slew of Boko Haram bloodletting – some 350 people killed in the past nine days – is consistent with past ratcheting up of violence as the militants seek a stronger negotiating position.

    Presidential adviser Femi Adesina said at the weekend that Nigeria’s government “will not be averse” to talks with Boko Haram. “Most wars, however furious or vicious, often end around the negotiation table,” he said.

    Eno said the five-week-old administration of President Muhammadu Buhari offers “a clean slate” to bring the militants back to negotiations that had become poisoned by the different security agencies and their advice to Jonathan.

    Two months of talks last year led government representatives and Eno to travel in September to a northeastern town where the prisoner exchange was to take place – only to be stymied by the Department for State Service, the activist said.

    At the last minute, the intelligence agency said it was holding only four of the militants sought by Boko Haram, he said.

    It is not known how many Boko Haram suspects are detained by Nigeria’s intelligence agency, whose chief Buhari fired last week.

    The activist said the agency continues to hold suspects illegally because it does not have enough evidence for a conviction, and any court would free them. Nigerian law requires charges be brought after 48 hours.

     Thousands of suspects have died in custody, and they might include some on a list from Boko Haram that Eno said he first received exactly one year ago.

    In May, about 300 women, girls and children being held captive by Boko Haram were rescued by Nigeria’s military, but none was from Chibok. It is believed the militants view the Chibok girls as a last-resort bargaining chip.

    Boko Haram has not shown them since a May 2014 video in which its leader, Abubakar Shekau, warned: “You won’t see the girls again unless you release our brothers you have captured.”

    There have been unconfirmed reports that some of the girls have been taken to neighboring countries, and that some have been radicalized and trained as fighters. At least three were reported to have died – one from dysentery, one from malaria and one from a snake bite.

  • Buhari faults Jonathan’s handling of Chibok girls’ saga

    Buhari faults Jonathan’s handling of Chibok girls’ saga

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday maintained that that the handling of the Chibok girls issue by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration was not impressive.

    He spoke when he received the #Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He declared that it was a matter of right for the government to take care of the welfare of the escaped girls and parents of the over 200 secondary school girls abducted from Chibok, Borno State on April 14 last year.

    He said: “Nobody in Nigeria or outside could have missed your consistency and persistence, demonstration of the injustice meted on you‎, the parents, the community and Nigeria.

    “Representing the government of Nigeria, I cannot rationalize the government’s incompetence in dealing with this issue. We only ask for your patience.

    “I’m impressed with the presentation of BBOG by Mrs.  Uwais, which is comprehensive enough and the leadership of the Chibok community has made a comprehensive representation as well as leader of this group, the cleric that represents the group.”

    “It’s unfortunate that the security and federal government conflicting reports initially presented the government and it’s agencies in a very bad light both nationally and internationally because the law enforcement agencies and the government were conflicting each other sometimes within hours or within weeks, that is not very impressive.

    “The delayed and late reaction ‎by former government and its agencies was very unfortunate as I said. ‎And I thank the leader of Chibok Community for the articulated priorities he has drawn about welfare of the families, of the communities and rehabilitation of infrastructure. I think government should provide these infrastructures as a matter of right.

    “I think you will agree that the present government takes the issue very seriously. Within a week of being sworn in, I visited Niger, Chad and would have visited Cameroon but for the invitation of the G-7 to go to Germany and listen to them.”

    Buhari promised to do all it takes to rescue the Chibok girls.

    The President also wondered how the capacity of Nigerian armed forces had lowered over the years.

    Promising to strengthen institutions, he said, that everything will be done to bring the armed forces back to its lost glory.

    The #Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group visited the Presidential Villa to make formal demands for the girls’ rescue, among others.

    The group was led by the Coordinators, former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili and Mariam Uwais.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo along with the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and some service chiefs were also among top government officials that received the group in the briefing room attached to the Council Chamber.

    Previous attempts by the group to access the seat of power and have audience with former President Jonathan were thwarted by the last administration.

    The demands made by Ezekwesili and Chibok Area Development Association, represented by Mr. Dauda Iliya,  Wednesday, included increasing effort by the government to immediately rescue the abducted girls, for the Federal Government to start taking care of the welfare of parents of the abducted and escaped girls.

    They also demanded for the general welfare of the entire Chibok community, including relief materials for all the displaced persons to be taken care of by the Federal Government.

     

  • Chibok girls’ parents alert public to fraudsters

    Chibok girls’ parents alert public to fraudsters

    Parents of the abducted pupils of Government Secondary School (GSS), Chibok, Borno State, yesterday alerted the public on the activities of fraudsters using their names to defraud Nigerians and corporate bodies.

    More than 200 students of the school were abducted by suspected insurgents on April 14 last year while writing their final examination.

    Mr. Yakubu Maina, the chairman of the Association of Parents of Abducted Girls, raised the alert at a news conference in Maiduguri.

    He said: “We wish to alert Nigerians and corporate organisations on the existence of some individuals and organisations masquerading as parents of Chibok girls to defraud them of their money.

    “The call became necessary because this group has turned the agitation for the release of our daughters into a scam.”

    Maina, supported by the secretary of the association, Mr. Lawan Zanna, lamented that the group often deceived parents of the girls into attending their functions, only to be duped.

    “We have realised that the whole thing has been turned into business by individuals, who pretend to be fighting our cause.

    “Some real parents have been lured to attending meetings with highly-placed individuals in Abuja and beyond, only to discover that they have been shortchanged,” Maina said.

    He said 14 parents of the abducted girls have died, following heart-related diseases.

  • ‘Chibok girls: Buhari must reconstruct Nigeria’

    ‘Chibok girls: Buhari must reconstruct Nigeria’

    Frontline artiste and Cultural Ambassador, Tar Ukoh, popular as ‘Mambissa,’ is using his gift – music to campaign for the release of the Chibok girls who have been in the captivity the insurgent Boko Haram group since April 15 last year. In his latest release, Mambissa is urging President Muhammadu Buhari to do everything possible in alacrity to bring back the girls in sound condition. In an interview with Senior Correspondent FANEN IHYONGO, the revolutionary artiste said the ‘Chibok Girls’ are a metaphor for not just the general insecurity in the land, but for the crisis that would confront Nigeria, if young girls become scared of going to school simply because they could be kidnapped by terrorists. 

    Motivation

    Bring Back the Chibok Girls’ song is my own contribution as an artiste in raising awareness on the debilitating tragedy of terrorism in Nigeria, as it affects the girl-child. Remember that 219 school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram from a school in Chibok, Borno State in April last year, are still in captivity. Now, for me, the Chibok girls are a symbol of not just the level of decay and collapse of the educational institution in Nigeria, but an indictment on the Nigerian State; the failure of the Nigerian State to protect its citizens in the larger context, and specifically children and then the girl-child in school. The Chibok girls are a metaphor of not just the general insecurity, but the crisis that would face Nigeria, if young girls are scared of going to school and colleges because they are afraid they would be kidnapped in school. And if so, we are going to have 50 percent illiterate population because the girls we are training today are the mothers of the nation tomorrow; they are tomorrow’s people. So, if our mothers of tomorrow are not getting educated today, what is the consequence? Poor parents  who, initially may not even want to send their children to school, who would use the hostage crisis as an excuse to stop sending their daughters to school. What is the corollary to that? They would now become victims of early child marriages and domestic helps. And this would lead to increased illiteracy and lack of capacity for our development as a nation. Our productive forces would diminish. The human capital development of the girl-child and our women would diminish. Consequently, the future of Nigeria would be gloomy. It would spell doom.

    How Jonathan failed

    I want to highlight the critical importance of the role the government must play in negotiating the return of the Chibok girls by the Buhari regime. Remember, the Goodluck Jonathan regime was not just callous, but insipidly unconcerned about the Chibok girls, even in denial. Remember the former first lady Dame Patience Jonathan had even said she didn’t believe the Chibok girls were kidnapped. The former president himself went as far as insinuating that it was a political ploy by the opposition party  at that time the APC, to make his government look foolish and incompetent, and that the Chibok girls were not really kidnapped. But that was put to lie when we saw the leader of the Islamist terrorists group, Abubakar Shekau, displaying the Chibok girls whom people saw and identified some as their daughters.

    Efforts of ‘BringBackOurGirls’ campaigners commendable

    The ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign led by Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, for me, is a turning point in the history of female consciousness, womanhood, pride of the Nigerian woman and her dedicational commitment. For me, when I come to Abuja and I see the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ at their stand keeping vigil in that spot for over 430 days now, I think it is commendable. And for me as an artiste who is a social conscience, cultural salt and pride of the nation, if I cannot represent the sentiments, the fears and the pleasures of my people, then I am working for nobody. Then I am working in vain. The womanhood must be given its dignity and pride. So, I am defending my mothers; I am defending my daughters and I am defending our wives and sisters. So, the Chibok girls are a metaphor of the collapse of the Nigerian State. Buhari must now resurrect and reconstruct the Nigerian State. And behold, everybody should support girl-child education, primarily in an environment that is secure and safe. That is why I released this CD, supported by the Planned Parents Federation of Nigeria (PPFN), and we are hoping to do the video soon. We distribute free and we shall continue to reproduce and give out free to people, the radio and television stations, as we continue to get more sponsors and resources.

    Campaign for Chibok girls must intensify

    It would be backward thinking if we stopped pressing for the release of those girls because the past regime could not rescue them. It would be like leaving your house open because even if you lock it, thieves would still break into it. So we must keep asking, because the girls are human beings and no Nigerian should be left behind in this crusade. As far as they are Nigerians, irrespective of age, the fight for their release by the Nigerian State is the beginning of the fight for the sustenance of the dignity of the fundamental human right of the citizenry.

    It could be anybody

    Even constitutionally, the prime business of the state is to protect lives and property and the environment for the citizenry to live a safe life and own property without molestation. So artistes all over the world should always defend a just course. Like lawyers, artistes represent the legal conscience of human beings. We should get where food cannot reach, enter peoples’ souls and touch their minds to stand out and say ‘hey, this is danger,’ because it could be anybody tomorrow. What stops another terrorists group from going to Okigwe, or Badagary or Calabar for instance, to kidnap school girls and take them as hostages?

    Collapse of security, decay of infrastructure, neglect of school system

    The Chibok episode has shown the decay of the Nigerian State in the last 16 years; the total collapse of the security apparatus; the total collapse of the infrastructure in the country and the total neglect of the school system. It could also have been the teachers, and it does not mean the Chibok girls are the only people who have been kidnapped and taken as hostages. But we are using them as a unifying symbol to preach to the conscience of the nation and say ‘Wait a minute; can this be Nigeria in the 21st century?’ Look at what other nations are doing in terms of protection of lives and property. I remember Elian Gonzalez, a five-year-old Cuban boy, who in 1999 was rescued by fishermen at the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and taken to a hospital for treatment. His mother and 11 others on the raft had drowned in their attempt to come to the U.S. from Cuba. Elian was released from the hospital into the custody of other relatives in Miami. The Cuban government sent a note to the U.S. mission in Havana requesting Elian’s return to Cuba. And back in 2000, Elian, now about 21years, is happily studying Industrial Engineering in a university in his home province of Matanzas in Cuba. That type of child would die defending Cuba. He would be so patriotic. He will not mess with his country. That is what we must do for the Chibok girls. We don’t know how and where they are, but we want them back.

    The song

    A song of the wailings of anger, yearning for answers. Non to hear. The song of wisdom, voice of reason. On our little children. Our Chibok girls. Our mothers of tomorrow. Mr. President, please. Bring back the Chibok girls. Now and alive, safe and sound. Build and reconstruct our nation. Take me to Sambissa Forest, to bring back our girls. Wailings and wailings. Tears of hope, waiting and waiting. Tell us the truth Mr. President. Ayooo, mmm, Chai! yei yeii yei… We want the girls back. Today. Tomorrow no more.

    The message:

    The message in the five minutes track: ‘Bring Back the Chibok Girls,’ include: first, we want to know where the Chibok Girls are. It is the duty of the government to bring them back from wherever they are. And it is the duty of government to protect lives and property of Nigerians. And we are saying it is the responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief, as at that time Goodluck Jonathan, and since Jonathan failed Nigerians, please Buhari don’t fail us. Buhari we will checkmate Boko Haram and stop terrorism. You (Buhari) must reconstruct Nigeria to a point where we will all love one another, without dividing us along religious or ethnic lines. It was the incompetence of the PDP government that led to the total collapse of our security forces. They were not trained, motivated and armed, so they ran away from the war front when they heard gun shots booming from Boko Haram, they ran away and left the innocent citizens to the vagrancy, horrendousness and massacre by the terrorists. In short, we are saying: Buhari, na you we believe in. You go do am. We the parents are saying: you the commander-in-chief, reconstruct Nigeria and bring back our girls, now and alive.

  • Chibok girls protesters to march on Villa

    Chibok girls protesters to march on Villa

    Members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) – the group campaigning for the release of the abducted girls of the Chibok girls secondary school, abducted more than one yesr ago – are planning to march on the Presidential Villa in Abuja to rev up the call for action by government.

    They have also written to President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking to know what plans the new government has in place to pursue the release of the girls from the Boko Haram gulag.

    A senior member of the group, Aisha Yusufu, told members at their usual sit out in Abuja yesterday that the group wrote a letter to President Buhari ýover 10 days ago but had not got a response since the letter was delivered.

    She spoke of the need for the President to recognise that the Chibok girls and their families have suffered enough and Nigerians need to be reminded that they have a government which cares about their well being.

    Yesufu also condemned that failure of the President to address the country or the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) on the World Refugees Day since the country currently has over a million persons displaced all over with thousands of refugees in Cameron and Niger Republic.

    Her words: “The world celebrated the World Refugees Day on Saturday and it is disappointing that the President did not deem it fit to address the country, instead, we are flooded with pictures of him in Daura visiting his cows. It is really unfortunate that Nigerians are suffering and he did not have a single word of comfort for them.

    “ We wrote to him over 11 days ago as a group about meeting with him, so that he can tell us what he has been doing so far about rescuing the Chibok girls and ending the insurgency in the Northeast but unfortunately we have not received any reply from him, we are going to be embarking on a protest march to the Presidency, so that as citizens, we will know what is being done in our country.”

  • Oyo Speaker canvasses prayer for Chibok girls

    The Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Michael Adeyemo, has urged Muslims to use the Ramadan period to offer special prayers for the more than 200 school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents from Chibok, Borno State last year.

    Adeyemo, in his Ramadan message, said the fasting period is a time of deep reflection and sacrifice. He urged the Muslim faithful to offer special prayers for the girls and their mothers who are still agonising over their abduction.

    He called for prayers for all those who are bereaved on account of attacks by the insurgents in the North East, stressing that the country needs prayers to overcome the myriad of security, social and economic challenges confronting it.

    “Ramadan is a time of deep reflection and sacrifice, especially now that the country is facing serious economic and security challenges.

    “I urge our Muslim brothers and sisters to show more love, care and imbibe good virtues during and after the Ramadan,” he said.

    The speaker prayed that the month brings sparkles of contentment, blessing, happiness and joy.

  • We’ll win for Chibok girls – Oparanozie

    We’ll win for Chibok girls – Oparanozie

    Nigerian forward Desire Oparanozie has expressed a desire to win the match against the USA for the Chibok girls.

    In a chat with SportingLife, she said: “The Chibok girls  are always with us.The global soccer audience didn’t know much about Nigeria coming into the tournament and all it understands now is that the African champions are a team that’s fast, talented, unpredictable and occasionally lacking in defensive organisation.

    “But behind all that, the squad carries a burning purpose in its quest to emerge from the toughest group in the competition.”

    The girls referenced by Oparanozie are those kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram, the Islamic Jihadist terrorist group based in the north east of the country.

    A reported 276 girls, some as young as 9, were abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok in April 2014. Despite widespread global condemnation and some rescue attempts of mixed success, the whereabouts of most of the girls remains unknown.

    She continued: “We play for ourselves and for our country, but we play for them. Those girls and the tragedy that happened to them, it is deep within all of us. When people see us fight for victory on the field, it is their spirit that is within us. We want to win for them.”

  • Tears as Buhari, wife meet Chibok women

    Tears as Buhari, wife meet Chibok women

    • Buhari’s wife, two Chibok women weep over Chibok girls at Defence House

    The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari on Friday wept at the Defence House as she received two mothers of the over 200 Chibok school girls who were abducted by Boko Haram in April 2014

    The two women, who also met with President Muhammadu Buhari, were weeping as they walked out from the meeting venue.

    Vice President’s wife, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo was also at the closed-door meeting.

    Speaking with journalists at the end of the meeting, Mrs. Osinbajo said: “Hajia Aisha Buhari had for many months, wanted to visit Chibok.

    “She also wanted to meet with the mothers. Today, we had an opportunity for them to meet face to face.

    “We had two of the mothers who still have their daughters missing after a year. Hajia being a mother met with them, held them and they cried, everybody cried.CHIBOK Girls

    “What only a mother will do is to say wait, I want you to see your father and see what your father will do. We were all extremely overwhelmed, that at this time when the President is so busy, he had time to meet with the women from Chibok.

    “He spoke to them in English and Hausa. He explained to them how he keeps telling everybody to put themselves in their place.

    “So, today, we have had the opportunity for the President and Hajia to show that they are our father and mother, for that we are glad.” She stated.

  • Activists to meet Buhari over Chibok girls

    Members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) advocacy are set to meet President Muhammadu Buhari over the missin schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram sect 420 days ago.

    The group also said it was saddened by the continuous death and suffering in the Northeast.

    It urged Buhari to address the country on the moves he is making to ending insurgency and bring back the Chibok girls.

    A member of the group, Aisha Yusufu, who spoke on other members’ behalf,  said Nigerians gave the President their mandate because they believed in him.

    She said: “The Chibok girls have been in captivity for 419 days and they do not have the liberty to decide to stop living the life of captivity that they have been caused to live. Our daughters have been living in the forest for the past 419 days and still we have not heard anything about them.

    “Now the new President has been sworn in and we in the #BBOG decided to give him one week in power before writing a letter demanding to meet with him. We will send our letter to him next week and we will not be begging to be seen but we will demand to be addressed as citizens of this country.

    “We are impatient and are tired of being afraid. We are tired of wondering who will be next; we expect that by now, President Buhari would have addressed the country and told us what he has been doing so far. We are tired of being kept in the dark. Nigerians need to know of the steps being taken to end this scourge of insurgency because our Chibok girls are tired of waiting.”