Tag: Chibok girls

The kidnapped Chibok girls were yesterday listed by the French Press agency , AFP, as  among  the most influential people of 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin  tops the list  in a  year marked by seismic conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and scarred by episodes of extreme brutality.

The leader of the Islamic State group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi also features prominently among the key personalities, reflecting the rise of militant groups with agendas even more radical than Al-Qaeda.

The extraordinary dignity showed in the face of deep suffering by the parents of murdered American journalist James Foley was also recognised in the list, which was compiled by senior editors after a consultation with more than 370 AFP journalists around the world.

Diane and John Foley never ceased campaigning for their son, an AFP contributor who was the first Western hostage to be executed by the Islamic State group. The horrific video of the killing was posted online and contributed to the outrage that brought the US military into the Iraq and Syria conflicts.

AFP last year published a list of the most influential people of 2013 led by Edward Snowden, who revealed the extent of US intelligence surveillance, Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, laureate of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Here, in order, are the 10 people judged to have had the greatest influence on events in 2014:

VLADIMIR PUTIN: With the Ukrainian conflict and Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, East-West relations have been plunged into their deepest crisis since the fall of the Berlin Wall. At 62, Putin is the key player in a confrontation that threatens to open a new Cold War.

ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI:  The Iraqi leader of the Islamic State group, born in 1971, is at the heart of a major upheaval in the Middle East. He proclaimed himself caliph of the territory his fighters have overrun in Syria and Iraq, over which he reigns without mercy. A US-led coalition has been formed to confront him.

NIGERIAN SCHOOLGIRLS: The Boko Haram group kidnapped the 276 schoolgirls from Chibok,Borno State, in mid-April, shocking the world. On social networks, people launched a campaign, #bringbackourgirls. The girls became a symbol of the atrocities committed by the group, which has proclaimed its support for the Islamic State group. Of the kidnapped girls, 219 remain in the hands of Boko Haram with no sign of how, when or if they may be freed.

POPE FRANCIS: Chosen as pope in 2013, it quickly became clear that Jorge Bergoglio was a new style of pontiff. He confirmed that this year, reaching out to divorced couples albeit without taking any concrete steps. He has strongly defended Christians living in the Middle East and has urged Islam’s intellectual leaders to condemn jihadist violence.

MALALA YOUSAFZAI: The Pakistani teenager became a global icon after she was shot in the head and nearly killed by the Taliban on October 9, 2012 for insisting that girls had a right to education. At 17, this year she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history, jointly awarded the honour alongside the Indian campaigner Kailash Satyarthi.

JOSHUA WONG: At 18, he is one of the faces of the pro-democracy movement that swept Hong Kong this year in defiance of the Chinese leadership. The “umbrella revolution” appears to have been halted or at least interrupted. But Joshua Wong and other leaders believe their demands for true democracy can no longer be ignored.

DIANE AND JOHN FOLEY: Their son, James Foley, an American freelance journalist kidnapped in Syria in November 2012, was the first Western hostage to be executed by the Islamic State group. During their son’s captivity, they were confronted by the US authorities’ categorical refusal to enter into any talks with his kidnappers. With courage and dignity, they have kept his memory alive.

OSCAR PISTORIUS: A Paralympics star, he was the main character in the trial of the year, a case that transfixed South Africa and television viewers around the world. Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013. After a televised trial, the judge sentenced him to jail for five years for manslaughter. Prosecutors have now appealed and are seeking a murder conviction.

THOMAS PIKETTY: The French economist’s weighty tome, Capital in the 21st Century, has racked up hundreds of thousands of sales in France, the United States and Britain, where his academic theories about growing economic inequality have struck a chord among readers. Along with this year’s Nobel Economics Prize laureate Jean Tirole, Piketty testifies to the vitality of economic thinking in France at a time when, paradoxically, the economy itself is in crisis.

JACK MA: The emblematic figure of Chinese entrepreneurship, Jack Ma is the founder of internet giant Alibaba, which combines services similar to those of Amazon, eBay and Google. Alibaba shares began trading on Wall Street in September in the biggest listing in history. The 50-year-old former English teacher is the richest man in China.

The fact that the over 200 Chibok girls, abducted from their dormitory by the Boko Haram insurgents since April 14 are still in the captivity of the sect, will not stop President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration tomorrow.

Chairman of the Publicity sub committee for the event, Senator Aniete Okon, who stated the President’s resolve to go ahead with the event, added that the programme was being funded by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s friends and associates.

Okon said inasmuch as the President believed that the girls would be found, the country would still have to move forward.

“Are you saying that until we find the girls, we should not renew our fate in the country?

We feel that what is more greater to the government is the safe return of these girls. And we are working for their safe return”

Okon also declared that there was no monetary contribution from the Federal Government, adding that, “The issue of cost is an entire affair of the President, who has spoken to some of us, who are his friends and asked us to meet the cost of the declaration”.

AN Abuja High Court has declared as illegal, the directive by the police banning the rallies being held by the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners over the abducted Chibok girls.

Former Police Commissioner in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Joseph Mbu, who is now an Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, had issued the directive declaring the rallies illegal.

Although former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, distanced the Nigeria Police from Mbu’s directive and said the people have a right to protest, the rights group sued Mbu and the police.

In a judgment yesterday, Justice Sunday Aladetoyinbo held that the right to freedom of association and assembly was the bedrock of every democratic government and that the police has no right to ban Nigerians from engaging in peaceful protest.

The judge praised the former IGP for overruling Mbu on the ban and abiding by the law.

The judge cautioned the group to be security conscious in staging peaceful gathering.

He refused the plaintiff’s application for award of N200 million as damages, following the ban.

Reacting to the judgment, Mbu’s lawyer, Simon Lough, said there was no victor, no vanquish in the judgment and that the defendant would look at the judgment and might appeal the court’s decision on jurisdiction.

Women lawyers have called for a sustained effort by stakeholders to ensure the release of the kidnapped female pupils of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

The lawyers, under the aegis of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Nigeria, assured of their continued support of efforts aimed at rescuing the girls.

Country Director, FIDA, Mrs. Hauwa Shekarau, said her group was working with other agencies to ensure that medical help and psycho-social supportswere in place for the girls when they are eventually released.

She said such preparation was necessary because it was a common knowledge that the kidnapped girls would not remain the way they were before their abduction.

Mrs. Shekarau, who spoke in Abuja yesterday to announce plans for a conference to commemorate FIDA’s 50 years anniversary, said the celebration with the theme: “Celebrating 50 years of investing in women and children,” will hold between October 31 and November 5.

She said FIDA was concerned about the plight of the kidnapped girls and other deprived women and children.

Mrs. Shekarau said FIDA has, since its establishment in Nigeria in 1964, rendered free legal services to over one million women, including those who went to court to enforce their political mandate.

“FIDA in Nigeria played a key role in confronting the discrimination against persons living with HIV by carrying out legal literacy trainings in the country’s six geo-political zones,” she said.

The Federal Government’s ceasefire deal with the Boko Haram sect is to promote President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid and not for the kidnapped girls, the father of one of the Chibok girls, Mr. Ayuba Alamson, has said.

Alamson alleged that the government was using the abducted Chibok girls to get the attention of Nigerians as next year’s general elections draw closer.

He said with the insecurity  in the Northeast and the failure to rescue the girls six months after they were abducted, he had no faith in the government.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Alamson said: “We are in a political era and seeing that the general elections are getting closer, the government is using the Chibok girls to draw the attention of Nigerians. It is making announcements that there is a ceasefire deal and the girls will soon be back because Nigerians are desperate to see that Boko Haram comes to an end and the Chibok girls are reunited with their parents and relations.

“So I believe that the issue of our girls is being used to promote the President’s 2015 bid. For Chibok people, our prayers and hope are for our daughters to be back home, hale and hearty. People are not happy with what happened in Chibok over half a year ago.

“We feel the government has abandoned us; they have cut us away from the rest of Nigeria. Some of our land has been taken away by Boko Haram and nothing is happening, especially with these girls that have been taken. No authentic statement has been issued by the government on the issue; only promises that are not true. I can only believe in President Jonathan and his cabinet if I see my daughters and sisters back home. That is when I will have faith in the government. For now, no way; I do not trust any leader in Nigeria, especially the ones that are representing my Chibok.

“Although they have been telling us that they are negotiating with Boko Haram for so long with no result, I believe that with God all things are possible. And if the government does not bring them back, I believe that one day, God will bring them back.

“I believe that whether the Federal Government brings the girls back with their ceasefire deals or not, God will make them come back soon. We the parents and relatives of these girls from Chibok presently do not have any peace of mind. It is only when we see the girls back alive that we will start having faith in the government of Nigeria.

“We urge Jonathan to consider God who made him President and do something because God will not come down to protect us in the Northeast. God will not send angels to release these girls in the bush; it is left for Jonathan to do it. I believe that there are probably some people in his government sabotaging his efforts. I believe that around the world, there are people that will assist him in the negotiation, so that these girls will be released and peace will reign; so that he would also have peace of mind to rule Nigeria.”