•Ailing pupils allowed to go •Insurgents kill 51 more in Borno
Four of the over 200 abducted Chibok school girls have regained their freedom.
They were freed by the Boko Haram insurgents when they took ill, the Chairman of Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, Mr. Bana Lawan, said in Abuja yesterday.
The state government confirmed last night that the girls have reunited with their family members.
Lawan, who spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting for validation draft on humanitarian response plan for the abducted girls, did not say when the four were freed. He also did not give their names.
Lawan was represented at the stakeholders’ meeting organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), by the council’s Director of Personnel/Management, Mr. Musa Elijah Kolo, said the girls fell ill and were released by their captors.
With their release, he said the number of freed girls is now 57.
Yesterday, Boko Haram killed another 51 in some Borno State villages.
Lawan said: “The people of Chibok are anxiously waiting for the safe return of their children. Except for the unfortunate situation where two of the parents have passed on. They were known to be suffering from High Blood pressure.”
Recalling how the girls were abducted, he said: “Those that registered for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) are not all that sat for the exam. Over 500 registered and those who had relatives around decided to move to various places like Kaduna and Maiduguri to write the exams. Those that were left with no relations decided to stay back to take the risk and among them 221 were abducted.”
He added that with the abduction of the girls, the morale of the girl-child in the Northeast is now low.
“The school in particular has been existing for long and the quality of education there has been diminishing. So, I want to appeal to the Federal Government, through NEMA and the presidential committee, to intervene in rebuilding the school,” he added.
NEMA’s Director-General Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi said the agency would validate a draft humanitarian response plan for Chibok which had become imperative to build synergy and strengthen coordination mechanism for humanitarian assistance to the affected persons and community.
He said: “While the Federal Government is working assiduously towards the safe release of the abducted girls and reunite them with their family members, it is important that a sectoral response plan be prepared for their rehabilitation and re-integration into normal life.”
The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Dr Dauda Toure, said the organisation had earmarked a $75 million intervention plan for Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states which are under emergency.
The UN system in Nigeria had developed an integrated response package to address the humanitarian needs in Chibok.
The UN system would intervene in the areas of health, peace and conflict resolution, water and sanitation, among others.
Speaking in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, last night, a top government official said the four freed girls are believed to be among those that escaped to the bush and lost direction during the April 15 and abduction.He said with the development, 219 girls were still being held hostage by Boko Haram.
The official said Commissioner for Education Musa Inuwa Kubo had officially informed the Presidential Fact-Finding Committee of this development, adding: “Four of the 223 schoolgirls missing following an attack and abduction by Boko Haram at the Government Secondary School in Chibok have reunited with their parents.”Borno’s Commissioner for Education, Musa Inuwa Kubo informed the Presidential Fact-finding committee on Chibok attack, when he made a presentation last Friday in Maiduguri.
“Kubo who appeared before the committee on Friday at its sitting in Maiduguri, said the four girls were discovered after Governor Kashim Shettima directed the ministry of education to open data pages for families of all the girls which should include names and pictures of the girls, class, age etc as well as the pictures of their parents.
“It was during the data capturing and visits to parents that it was discovered that four girls who were among those declared missing had reunited with their parents but the parents failed to inform the school authority.”The Commissioner was said to have been furious with the parents for keeping the government in the dark.
“The four girls are believed to be among those that escaped to the bush and lost direction during the attack and abduction.
“The Commissioner told the committee that with the discovery of the four girls, 219 girls are still missing.
“He informed the committee that after the April 14, 2014 attack on the school, the government had made series of announcements calling on parents whose daughters might have run home following the attack to bring them back so that the government could take record to ascertain the number of missing girls.
“Many parents brought back their kids while others who escaped from captivity were also reunited with the school.
“276 girls were initially said to have been attacked based on reports by the Borno State Police Commissioner and the Director of State Security Service. Out of this, 53 were found and 228 were missing.
“However, with the four girls found, the number of those missing stands at 219 and those found stands at 57.”
Also yesterday, the military denied that the Boko Haram sect had taken over some villages in Borno State and hoisted their flags there.
Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, made the clarification.
He said: “I have read the report also, but I can tell you that the military as security agency will not allow any strange flag to be hoisted in any part of the country.
“It is our duty to defend the territorial integrity of this country, and we will not allow any portion of this country to hoist strange flag and be sure that such plan will not succeed.”
The insurgents, according to a report, on Monday hoisted their flags in Ashigashiya ward and other hilly border villages.
Gen. Olukolade also debunked rumours that there is division among the military.
He said: “There is no such gap as it is being alleged,troops on ground or in the air are very responsive.”
