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Tag: Chibok girls

  • Chibok: Catholic Bishops declare ‘holy hour’ for abducted girls

    Following the abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno State by the Boko-Haram sect, the Catholic Bishops on Thursday declared what they called “holy hour” prayers and procession.

    The Catholic Bishop of Awka, Anambra State, Most Rev .Paulinus Ezeokafor and his Ahiara counterpart Most Rev. Peter Okpalake said this in Awka On Thursday.

    The due spoke during the celebration of their 25 years of working on the lord’s vine yard.

    The event began with con celebrated Eucharistic Holy Mass presided over by Ezeokafor.

    The Rosary procession for the Chibok girls would be observed on May 11 at all parishes in Awka.

    They added that the Catholic Church would use the opportunity to pray for the release of the abducted female students.

     

  • Military working hard to rescue Chibok girls

    Military working hard to rescue Chibok girls

    Yesterday’s protest took another dimension when the ‘bring back our girls’ group matched on the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, demanding an audience with Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh.

    The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group tabled a number of demands before the Chief of Defence Staff.

    The group demanded constant information flow from the Defence Headquarters on efforts being made to rescue the girls.

    The BBOG rejected the decision of the  DHQ to cede information management on the rescue operations to the Borno State Government, saying that the it was not in a position to provide the required information on military operations.

    Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, who stood in for the Chief of Defence Staff, assured the protesters that their demands would be forwarded to the appropriate quarters for consideration.

    His words: “We are assuring that the Nigerian Military is committed and the best will be done to bring back our girls safe and alive. Keep supporting us and keep praying along, we will get result very soon”

    Former minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili advised the military to work harder and bring back the girls alive.

    She said: “we are asking that we want our girls back. One thing is that we want to be part of the conversation on our security. One of the key points is to have a communication flow on the rescue mission. We will assist the officers and men of the military to achieve this cause. We need a very strong military. We need a capable military. Today’s kind of war is no longer the conventional war. This is the kind of war were you do not know the enemy. We will continue with our advocacy while we wait for them to bring back our girl. When our girls are brought back we will celebrate our military.”

    She said peaceful protests would continue until the girls are rescued alive.

     

  • First Lady didn’t order anybody’s arrest – Aide

    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.”

  • Civil society groups protest Chibok abduction in Lagos

    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

    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.

  • Calabar school girls protest Chibok abduction

    Calabar school girls protest Chibok abduction

    Over 2, 000 secondary schools girls in Calabar, Cross River State, on Monday took to the streets to demand unconditional release of the abducted students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
    The girls, dressed in black, and from different secondary schools in the state marched through major streets in Calabar with placards that read, “Bring back our little sisters,’ “Our girls are future mothers, free our daughters,” “Dialogue is the best option, not kidnapping of girls,” “Why use women as tools for negotiation,” “We need a safe and secure Nigeria, not abduction of girls” and “Free our girls, stop bombing and let’s talk” among others.
    They were joined in the protest by members of the National Association of Cross River Students (NACRISS) and Civil Society and Non-Governmental organizations in the state.
    Some of the students who spoke with The Nation said they were concerned about the plight of the abducted students whose fate still remains unknown.
    They appealed to the Federal Government to ensure the urgent release of the kidnapped girls.
    “The victims and their parents should be saved the trauma they are passing through. These innocent girls should not be made sacrificial lambs.
    “Today, it is students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, tomorrow some other persons may be affected,” one of the students said.
    The Co-ordinator, Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (a civil society organization), Comrade James Ibor, who also participated in the protest march said the safety of lives and property should be given priority attention by government.

     

     

     

  • Mercy Johnson to govt: Save Chibok girls

    Mercy Johnson to govt: Save Chibok girls

    Top Nollywood star, Mercy Johnson, has called on the Nigerian government to assuage the pains in the hearts of the mothers of kidnapped Chibok girls by Boko Haram insurgents.

    The actress, in a letter, which has been applauded by many, said: “Sometimes, our realities remind us of the pain of others. My reality as a mother is that I get to see my daughter every day, while the reality of the mothers of the kidnapped 234 Chibok girls is that they don’t even know where their daughters are.

    “All well-meaning Nigerians must come together and help these mothers who have been in pains for more than two weeks and make the memory a reality- the reality of seeing their children again. Let us not for once think that the evil-doers who turn the realities of these mothers to memories cannot do the same to us, if they have the opportunities. This is not a war against a select group of people; it is a war against all well-meaning mothers in Nigeria, as injustice to one is injustice to all. Let the mothers rise, the men who love them should stand by their right hand and the children who adore them on their left and do all we can in our spheres of influence to ensure that the children come back home safe, so that the mothers can smile again.”

    She also urged Nigerians to intensify their prayers, adding that those who could fast should add more days to their fasting period.

    “We need the girls back! They are innocent; they have their future ahead of them; so, please do not cut it short. I dare say some of them will end up being the solution we desire to restore the lost and battered glory of this nation. Please, don’t kill or damage the future all in the name of militancy.

    “I appeal to the soldiers and other security operatives not to be demoralized. Do not let this evil people for once think that they can get away with this. If they ever get away with this, let me assure you that we won’t all be able to sleep with our eyes closed.

    “I appeal to the political class and those in power not to think that any right-thinking Nigerian will allow this matter to be swept under the carpet. This isn’t one of the matters we will keep mum about. If your child were one of the abducted children, we would probably have heard of the end of the matter. Let’s not fold our arms and let evil reign.”

  • Rescue Chibok girls

    The capacity of the Boko Haram insurgents for evil  is indeed legendary. Not satisfied with the endless killings of people through its various attacks like the recent one in Abuja when scores of persons were killed and many others injured, the group recently abducted over 200 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State.

    The abduction of the girls whom they have refused to release despite all appeals has damaged whatever is left of our image in the international community.

    The ability of the terrorist group to beat the military security network despite the partial state of emergency in force in Borno State and ferry away the girls into the forest has again confirmed its near invincibility despite claims by the federal government that it is on top of the situation.

    The abduction of the girls is a litmus test for the federal government to prove that it has the capacity to checkmate the insurgents, now or in the future. The military unfortunately started the rescue efforts on a wrong note by claiming to have rescued the girls when then they had no clue of their whereabouts.

    The initial controversy over the actual number of students abducted and those who have escaped is also not good enough as it gives room for doubts on who to believe.

    Except the girls are rescued alive and not allowed to be abused as sex slaves or used as human shield, the federal government should consider the battle a lost one.

    We cannot afford to allow the reign of terror being unleashed presently in the north east part of the country to continue. The terrorists have become a law to themselves and except they are permanently curtailed, they will do more damage and seize control of some more states.

    Much as the military must exercise caution because of the civilian population trapped in the battle zone, no effort must be spared in regaining the areas the terrorists are based.

    From all indications, the insurgents are well-equipped and can only be defeated with superior intelligence and weapons. The welfare of the  soldiers serving in anti-Boko Haram operation must be catered for and they should not be dispirited in anyway.

    Where we need foreign support, we should not hesitate to ask, considering the international network of terrorists.

    This is a battle that must be won to save our country from the looming danger where the onslaught of the insurgents will spill over to other parts of the country.

    The confusion along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway last week over the false alarm of Boko Haram members attacking motorists should serve as a warning why security should be firmed up nationwide, instead of pretending that the problem is limited to the northeast and Abuja.

    It is bad that our leaders have allowed the situation in the country to degenerate to where Nigeria is being named along with Somalia and Afghanistan as terrorists enclaves, but there is still time to stop our dangerous slide to anarchy.