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Tag: Chibok girls

  • Why remaining Chibok girls have not been released — Buhari

    On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the abduction of over 270 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, President Muhammadu Buhari says a breakdown in talks between government and the abductors is holding back the release of the remaining victims.

    There are about 100 girls left in Boko Haram captivity  after the escape and release, through negotiation, of  over 150 others.

    Over 270 were abducted by the terror sect when its men invaded the school on the night of April 14 2014.

    Buhari, in a message to the parents of the girls yesterday, urged the parents to keep their hopes alive on the return of their daughters.

    He said: “We are concerned and aware that it is taking long to bring the rest of our daughters back home, but be assured that this administration is doing its very best to free the girls from their captors.

    “Unfortunately, the negotiations between the government and Boko Haram suffered some unexpected setbacks, owing mainly to a lack of agreement among their abductors, whose internal differences have led to a divergence of voices regarding the outcome of the talks.

    “We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you.

    “However, this government is not relenting. We will continue to persist, and the parents should please not give up.

    “Don’t give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again. Don’t lose faith in this government’s ability to fulfil our promise of reuniting you with our daughters.

    “Don’t imagine for a moment that we have forgotten about our daughters or that we consider their freedom a lost course.’’

    President Buhari pledged  that as long as he remains the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces the Chibok girls will never be forgotten and all will be done to have them reunited with their families.

    In a separate message on the occasion,the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday that over 1,000 children have been abducted in the northeast by the terror sect,Boko Haram, since 2013.

    The figure includes the Chibok girls,a UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, said yesterday.

    He said these “repeated attacks against children in schools are unconscionable.”

    Children have the right to education and protection, and the classroom must be a place where they are safe from harm, he stressed.

    He  called for an end to  “all grave violations of children’s rights,” in that part of Nigeria.

    The terrorists invaded the school on the night of April 14,2014 and took away the girls.

    A few of the girls managed to escape from their abductors while many others were released to the federal government after intense negotiations with the sect.

    About a 100 of them are still being held by the terrorists.

    Leader of a Boko Haram faction, Abubakar Shekau, said in a video message that the girls have converted to Islam and have been ‘married off.’

    Yana Galang, whose daughter Rifkatu is still missing, says she is hopeful her daughter will come back, according to CNN.

    Every year on the anniversary of their daughters’ disappearance, the parents gather in Chibok to pray for their safe return.

  • ACF to FG: intensify efforts to rescue Leah Sharibu, Chibok girls 

    • Greets Christians on Easter 

    Apex northern socio-cultural group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called on the federal government to intensify efforts at rescuing Dapchi school girl, Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok girls still under Boko Haram captivity.

    ACF, which greets Christians for the Easter celebration, also demanded concerted efforts by security agencies to contain the protracted cattle rustling, kidnappings and frequent farmers/herdsmen clashes in some northern states with its devastating loss of lives and property.

    The forum, in its Easter message by its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, however asked Christians to use the period to pray for peaceful coexistence, harmony, stability and prosperity of Nigerians and the country.

    It equally urged Nigerians to, irrespective of their status, embrace tolerance, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, good neighbourliness and love for one another.

  • Buhari: we will bring back Dapchi, Chibok girls safely

    It was a tearful scene yesterday in Dapchi, the Yobe State community where Boko Haram snatched away 110 girls on February 19.

    President Muhammadu Buhari visited the Government Girls Science and Technical College where the girls were abducted.

    Some of the distraught parents and the girls’ school mates broke down in tears when the Chairman of the Parents, Bashir Alhaji Monzo, spoke on the incident.

    The President and his entourage arrived at the school hall around 3.54 p.m

    Earlier in Damaturu, the state capital, the President had told stakeholders that “there will be no rest until the last girl, whether from Chibok or Dapchi, is released.

    “The girls and all our students must enjoy unhindered freedom and pursue their legitimate aspirations. The Dapchi and Chibok students are our girls and must enjoy our protection. They must live to achieve their individual ambition to be great women of tomorrow. It is our duty to protect them and we are determined to restore peace to all parts of the country from the west to the east, north to the south.”

    The President, who described the abduction as “careless”, stressed:  ”It is my hope that any agency, person or group  found to have been negligent or culpable in the abduction of the girls will be punished according to the law”.

    The parents were weeping as reporters interviewed them, hours before the President’s arrival.

    Addressing the parents in Hausa, President Buhari promised that no effort will be spared towards bringing their children back alive.

    He also vowed that Boko Haram terrorists woud not be spared for their evil activities.

    Said the President: “I have read the full report of what happened in Damaturu. As we received the information and what the Federal Government is doing under my leadership since beginning of the problem to date, may God console you.

    “I am informing you that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that this country is living in peace.”

    He recalled that during the campaigns, the government promised to achieve three objectives  – ensuring security, revamping the economy and fighting corruption.

    According to him, his administration has succeeded in all.

    Buhari said: “Those Boko Haram members were in control of many parts of Borno State and some local governments in Yobe State. But, at the moment, they have only resorted to bombing mosques and churches, and kidnapping young girls.

    “Boko Haram has also brainwashed some of the girls and made them to kill themselves with suicide bombs. By the will of God, we have directed police, DSS, Soldiers and other security agencies to find modalities by which your children will be returned to you in peace.”

    “But this their action and the one they did in 2014 before we assumed office, we will not spare them. So, because of that, the Federal Government will use all its powers to see the end of insurgency and bring peace into the country. May God console you,” he told the disturbed parents.

    Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam acknowledged that the Federal Government had lived up to its responsibility over the incident.

    According to him, the President had sent delegations to the state over the matter.

    “It is my hope that the findings of the committees will be implemented and the abducted girls rescued alive,” he said.

    The school’s principal, Hajiya Adama Abdulkarim, urged the parents not to be discouraged by the incident.

    The parents carried placards. Some of the inscriptions on the placards read: “Rescue our abducted DAPCHI school girls now”; “Any delay is dangerous. We want genuine action. Rescue our daughters now.”

    Another reads “Welcome Mr. President; we are parents of the abducted Dapchi school girls. Please rescue our daughters, we love them, they are our hope for a brighter future.”

    With the President were Ministers Lai Mohammed (Information), Abdulrahman Danbazzau (Interior); Adamu Adamu (Education), Solomon Dalung (Sports), and  Mansur Dan-Ali (Defence) and Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim.

    One of the mothers of the abducted girls, Hafisatu Mohammed, who spoke in Hausa, said: “We are in a terrible situation; some parents have died due to the loss of their children. Some of them are very sick.

    “We know that this tragic situation was ordained by God. We accept it in good faith. We accept this as a trial from God. We know that Almighty God will help us fight our battle. Our God will expose them. He will bring us out of this predicament.

    “We are begging our President, Baba Buhari, that he should do all ‘the needful’ in good time and rescue our children from this oppressors.”

    Another mother, Aisha Bukar, also speaking in Hausa, and crying, said: “The sister to one of my daughters, who was abducted in the school, is very sick at home due to the abduction of her sister.

    “We pray that God will bring peace back to Nigeria. We have never experienced such a terrible situation in our lives. Although there is relative peace since Buhari became President and we are still thanking him for what he is doing and may God continue to protect him.

    “We want him to redouble efforts to save our children from this wicked people. My daughter that was kidnapped was not able to walk for seven years. We brought her to school after she was cured and now they have kidnapped her. Because of this incident, I became sick and was admitted at the hospital.”

    One of the fathers of the abducted girls, Alhaji Deri Kade, said: “So many things have happened;  we have seen the worst. My only wish is to see Mr. President and welcome him and express my feelings to him, so that we discuss the way forward to rescue our children.

    “We are sure that Mr. President is very concerned about rescuing our children and that is why he is here in Dapchi, and our prayers will lead to that success,” he added.

  • We won’t rest until Chibok, Dapchi girls are rescued – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday assured parents of the abducted girls that he won’t rest until the last girl is freed from the Boko Haram captivity.

    The President, who spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting in Damaturu, Yobe State, reiterated his readiness to negotiate with Boko Haram on the release of  the abducted girls.

    He was in Yobe to commiserate with the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam and the people of the state over the abduction of 110 girls from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi.

    Buhari said: “There will be no rest until the last girl, whether from Chibok or Dapchi is released. The girls and all our students must enjoy unhindered freedom and pursue their legitimate aspirations. The Dapchi and Chibok students are our girls and must enjoy our protection. They must live to achieve their individual ambition to be great women of tomorrow. It is our duty to protect them and we are determined to restore peace to all parts of the country from the west to the east, north to the south.”

    The President, who described the abduction as careless, said “It is my hope that any agency, person or group found to have been negligent or culpable in the abduction of the girls will be punished according to the law.”

    He noted that with the renewed commitment of the Federal Government to exterminate terror and restore peace in all parts of the country, his government has sufficiently equipped the armed forces and “the outcomes have been good.”

    “Since the inception of this administration, we have remained resolute in our fight against terrorism and Boko Haram insurgents.  Nigerians will readily recall that prior to our coming in 2015, the situation was chaotic with violent attacks being the order of the day.

    “Terrorists had made life very unbearable for the people in Yobe, Kano, Kaduna, Borno, Niger, and even the FCT, Abuja.  Our mosques and churches witnessed daily suicide bomb attacks.  Parts of Adamawa and Borno States were helplessly ceded to the terrorists.

    “But today, we have so far shown clear determination in tackling terrorism which is a world -wide phenomenon. We have not only degraded the power and dominance of the criminal elements, our security forces have patriotically exhibited an uncommon zeal in executing their assignment.

    “We explored various strategies including regional and international collaborations to exterminate terror.  We have re-equipped our armed forces, security and intelligence services.  They are empowered with improved welfare and better equipment.  The outcomes have been good.  Our achievement in maintaining security is such that the international community and even our critics commend our modest efforts in this regards,” he added.

     

     

  • Buhari to Tillerson: Why we opted for negotiation with Boko Haram on abducted girls

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday told the United States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, why Nigeria opted for negotiation with the Boko Haram militants who abducted the Chibok girls and students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.

    The President said Nigeria prefers to have the abducted girls back alive.

    He made the remark while receiving the U.S Secretary of State at Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Buhari, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Nigeria was working in concert with international organizations and negotiators to ensure that the girls were released unharmed by their captors.

    “We are trying to be careful. It is better to get our daughters back alive,” the President said.

    He thanked America for assistance rendered in the fight against insurgency, noting that Nigerian forces are good “but need assistance in the areas of training and equipment.”

    The President promised that his administration would continue to do its best to secure the country, adding that he would be in Yobe State, where Dapchi girls were abducted, later this week “as part of my condolence and sympathy visits to areas where we have had unfortunate events.”

    He pledged free and fair polls in 2019, recalling that the then U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, had visited before the 2015 polls “and told the party in government then and those of us in opposition to behave ourselves and we did.”

    Tillerson commended President Buhari on his strides in the anti-corruption war, to which the Nigerian leader responded that moneys recovered are being invested on development of infrastructure.

    The U.S Secretary of State said Nigeria was a very important country to America, stressing: “You have our support in your challenges. We will also support opportunities to expand the economy, commercial investments and peaceful polls in 2019.”

     

     

     

  • Video: ‘We won’t return’, abducted Chibok girls

    Video: ‘We won’t return’, abducted Chibok girls

    Terrorist group, Boko Haram on Monday released a new video showing remaining schoolgirls abducted four years ago from Chibok, Borno State.

    The video is the first since May last year when another woman who also claimed to be among the 219 seized from the town in Borno state said she wanted to stay back.

    It was not clear when or where the latest video was recorded and The Nation is unable to verified the video released by Saharareporters.

    A group of about 12 girls and young women, some of whom are holding babies, are seen in the video.

    “We are the Chibok girls, you have been crying we should be released. But by the grace of Allah, we will not return home,” one of the girls said in the released video.

    “These people are taking care of us and we are grateful to them. We are happy here – we have found our faith,” she added.

    The video also paraded some women believed to be police officers who were abducted in June 2017, the women sobbed as a Boko Haram speaker recited the Qur’an before asking some of them to speak on video.

    Shekau also in the video claimed responsibility for the downing of a Nigerian air force helicopter on January 5. A part wreckage of a helicopter is also shown in the footage .

    “I am not wounded, I am ready to fight and will continue to fight,”  he said as he read from a prepared speech in  Hausa and flanked left and right by well-armed lieutenants.

    Boko Haram seized 276 students from the Government Girls Secondary School in the mostly Christian town on April 14, 2014, triggering global condemnation.

    Fifty-nine of them managed to escape in the hours that followed. A campaign for the release of their classmates has had the support of Hollywood stars to global leaders.

    A total of 107 girls have now been either found, rescued or released as part of government negotiations with the Islamic State group affiliate.

    They have now returned to the northeast and are back in education at the American University of Nigeria, in the Adamawa state capital, Yola.

    On January 4, the Nigerian army said it had rescued another of the girls’ classmates in the Pulka region of Borno, near the border with Cameroon.

    Boko Haram has used kidnapping as a weapon of war in the conflict, which has killed at least 20,000 people in northeast Nigeria and displaced more than 2.6 million.

    Thousands of women and young girls have been seized and held hostage, including as sex slaves, while men and young boys have been forcibly recruited to fight alongside the militants.

  • Family, #BBG laud army for rescuing Chibok girl

    Family, #BBG laud army for rescuing Chibok girl

    Mr. Ayuba Aloson, a family member of the Chibok school girl rescued by troops on Thursday, Salomi Pogu, has lauded the Nigerian Army for rescuing the girl from the Boko Haram enclave.

    Pogu, who is 15th in the list of the abducted girls, was rescued by the military on Thursday.

    She was rescued in company of one other girl, Jamila Adams, at Pulka in Gwoza local government area of Borno State.

    The 219 girls were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents at Government Secondary School, Chibok, in April 2014.

    Aloson, who is among thousands of displaced persons taking shelter in Maiduguri, commended the military over their commitment to rescue the abducted girls.

    He expressed joy over the development, and hoped that the remaining abducted girls would soon be rescued from captivity.

    Alonson said four of his nieces abducted in the school were still held by the insurgents.

    “I am happy over the development. Our abducted daughters are still with their captors.

    “This demonstrates the commitments of the military to the rescue of the girls,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the #BringBackOurGirls movement had also lauded the efforts of the military for rescuing Pogu.

    The spokesman of the group, Sesugh Akume, said in a statement in Maiduguri that the rescued girl was serial number 15, in the list of abducted 219 school girls.

    “Our movement is delighted to confirm this news to be true.

    “Salomi Pogu; is a daughter of Malam Pogu Yahi from Kaumutahyahi, a village in Kuburmbula ward of Chibok local government area. Her parents are currently at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Rumirgo village, near Askira-Uba in Borno.”

    NAN

     

  • Photos: Troops rescue another Chibok girl in Borno

    Photos: Troops rescue another Chibok girl in Borno

     

    From left: Deputy National Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Customs Service, Abubakar Dalhadu; National Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah; and the Zonal Commander in the Comptroller-General of Customs’ compliance team, Tafida Yusuf, during a news conference on the 2017 Customs Seizure Management, in Lagos on Thursday

     

    Salomi Pugo, one of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped in 2014, who was rescued by the military troops at Pulka in Borno on Thursday.
  • Troops rescue another Chibok girl

    Troops rescue another Chibok girl

    Nigerian Army Military Troops on Thursday rescued one of the 2014 Chibok girls abducted in Pulka, Borno State.

    The Deputy Director of Public Relations, Theatre Command, Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, who confirmed the development in a statement in Maiduguri, said the young girl after preliminary investigation, has been identified as Salomi Pagu who is number 86 on the list of the abducted Chibok girls.

    The statement said Salomi was found in company of another young girl, Jamila Adams, 14, with a child.

    READ ALSO: Troops kill three Boko Haram insurgents in Borno

    According to the statement, the two girls are in the troops’ custody.

    The statement reads: “Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole deployed in Pulka today (Thursday) rescued one of the Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in 2014.

    “So far, preliminary investigations revealed that the young girl identified as Salomi Pagu is the same as the Chibok girl published on serial 86 of the online list of abducted Chibok girls.

    “Currently, the girl who was intercepted in the company of another young girl, Jamila Adams, 14,  are in the safe custody of troops and receiving medical attention.”

     

  • Chibok girls: Shettima dares Jonathan to reveal panel’s report

    Chibok girls: Shettima dares Jonathan to reveal panel’s report

    Accuses ex-President of engaging in ‘mischief‘

    The row between ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, over the abduction of the Chibok School girls in 2014 deepened yesterday.

    Shettima through a statement by the Borno State Commissioner of Education, Musa Inuwa Kubo, has challenged the ex-President to make public the report a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee he constituted in the wake of the girls’ abduction, ‘if he has nothing to hide.’

    The Commissioner, who denied allegation by Jonathan that the Principal of Chibok Secondary School at the time of the abduction was appointed commissioner by the Shettima administration, insisted that no one contributed to the fight against Boko Haram than Shettima.

    The spat between Jonathan and Shettima followed remarks by the Governor at a book launch in Abuja that the ex-President had surrounded himself with persons who could not help him in the art of governance unlike former President Olusegun Obasanjo whose administration was studded with very bright personalities.

    However, Jonathan, through a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, said Shettima should come clean on how the Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 14, 2014.

    But Kubo also called on Nigerians to ask Jonathan why he concealed a report of his own fact-finding committee’ that investigated the circumstances surrounding the kidnap of the girls.

    Kubo said: “Rather than direct spurious allegations against Governor Kashim Shettima on controversies surrounding the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls, media aides should ask their principal, ex-President Jonathan, why he deliberately concealed the report of a Presidential Fact-Finding Committee he constituted and inaugurated on May 6, 2014 and which submitted the report of findings to him on June 20, 2014.”

    He also said there was never a time the Principal of Government Secondary School, Chibok was considered for any appointment, not to mention being a Commissioner.

    He described the claim by Jonathan’s media team as an irresponsible ‎mischief.

    He added: “For the purpose of records, Eze and his colleagues are pointing the wrong direction, they should ask their principal, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, why he deliberately refused to make public, the report of a committee he constituted, inaugurated and received their findings on facts surrounding the Chibok abduction and who is to blame for it.

    “To refresh their minds, on May 6, 2014, President Jonathan had inaugurated multi-agency/stakeholder fact-finding committee under the chairmanship of Brig. General Ibrahim Sabo (rtd), a one-time Director of Military Intelligence and secretary of the Committee was from the Niger Delta.

    “President Jonathan single handedly selected all members of that committee which included representatives of the UN, ECOWAS, ‎retired and serving security officers from the Army, DSS and the Police; representatives of the Chibok community, local and international civil rights organizations, representatives of the National Council of Women Societies, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and some of his highly trusted associates.

    “For nearly two months, the committee undertook thorough investigation that included forensic assessment of all documents on the entire issues, held meetings with parents of the schoolgirls, visited Chibok, met with the then Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, the Director General of the DSS and the Inspector General of Police, all of whom were appointees of President Jonathan.

    “The committee also met with officials of Borno Government including myself and the school principal. The committee held meetings with the heads of different security agencies in Borno State, including the security formations in charge of Chibok and after compiling their findings, the committee submitted its report directly to President Jonathan on June 20, 2014 in Aso Rock.

    “The question anyone should ask is why President Jonathan deliberately refused to make that report public. What was he hiding from Nigerians? Here is another question, if the findings had indicted Governor Shettima or the Borno State Government in anyway, does anyone really thinks Jonathan would have concealed that report given his open hatred for Shettima and the fact that the Governor was in the opposition party?

    “Also, the issue of saying the Principal of GSS Chibok was appointed a Commissioner is an irresponsible mischief because Governor Kashim Shettima is neither foolish nor is he a daft,” the Commissioner stated.

    Kubo said if there was one Nigerian that assisted Jonathan in the fight against Boko Haram it was Governor Shettima.

    He said Shettima  single-handedly approved the funding of civilian JTF without any support from the Federal Government .

    He said Jonathan himself repeatedly acknowledged the roles played by Civilian JTF in whatever success his administration recorded in fighting the insurgency.

    He said the governor supported Jonathan by funding security agencies and mobilizing community intelligence as publicly attested to by the then Director of Operations at the Defence Headquarters, Major General Lawrence Ndugbane.

    Kubo said Jonathan’s main anger with Shettima was when the governor spoke out of frustration by telling the world that the Nigerian military wasn’t being equipped.

    He said the Governor’s claim has since been proved by former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh and by the huge allegations on how funds means for arms were shared under Jonathan.

    The Commissioner noted that ex- President Jonathan’s decision to constitute that committee was a miraculous intervention by God to preserve the innocence of Governor Shettima and his administration.

    He noted that if Jonathan wasn’t the one that constituted a fact-finding committee and received a report, no administration on earth would have upheld Shettima’s innocence because Jonathan’s men would have questioned the report of any other fact-finding committee.

    He called on the ex-President Jonathan’s media team to find something more important to do with their time rather than making baseless allegations in order aimed at tarnishing the image the governor.