Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka led hundreds of Nigerians yesterday to demand the release of the missing Chibok schoolgirls.
The European Union (EU), in a statement yesterday, also called for the girls’ release.
Soyinka spoke at a forum organised by Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, the President of Women Arise, one year after the girls were taken away.
Actionaid Nigeria yesterday marched for the girls. It marched with 219 youths, to represent the girls still in captivity.
The EU statement reads: “A year has passed since 287 school girls from Chibok, in north-eastern Nigeria, were abducted by Boko Haram. Though some girls escaped, others have since been taken and more than 300 girls are still missing. We express our solidarity with the plight of the families and with the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign.
“All efforts must continue to be made to rescue and reunite the girls with their families, and bring the perpetrators of this terrible act to account. The EU remains ready to assist the Government of Nigeria, including the newly elected President and local authorities, as well as others in the region in their fight against Boko Haram and all forms of terrorism and criminality.”
To Soyinka, Nigerians must join hands with the government to ensure that the children were found.
“We must make sure that such assault on our humanity doesn’t happen again.
“The survival of humanity and of the nation must remain paramount,” he said.
According to him, terrorism is not a Nigerian phenomenon alone and may not be going away soon.
“However, we must not get used to it. Our children are being dehumanised. I believe that our responsibility is to assist by becoming vigilant.
“We must become policemen/women; vigilante of our communities. We must encourage others to be protective members of their community,” Soyinka said.
Former presidential candidate Prof. Pat Utomi also called for the girls’ freedom. He said humanity, the world over, was a shared one and anything that diminished any human and did not touch others was bad.
“Terror is not something we should tolerate. We must confront terror and not sit in our homes complaining.
“We must stand up to enforce what we demand. The measure of the progress of any civilisation is how they hold the dignity of the human person.
“It’s not just about rescuing the girls alone but about staying together and fighting for what is right.
“It is however important to recognise that nothing gets done without a strategy,” he said.
Utomi suggested that plans must be put in place that would help rehabilitate the girls when they eventually return.
“Their psyche must have been so tampered with. The nation must ensure that they are re-oriented,” he said.
On the just concluded elections, Utomi said: “We can hope that we have started moving forward.
“We used to be a people that assumed nothing will change but we are beginning to realise that things can change, so, it is a new dawn for our country,” he said.
Speaking at the forum, a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mrs Funmi Tejuosho, expressed concern over what the missing girls could be passing through.
“These children are lost and we don’t know what is happening to them. We must never relent until they are found,” she said.
Dr Okei-Odumakin, who is also the President of Campaign for Democracy (CD), said more should be done to enhance security of lives and property in Nigeria.
“The whole world stood in unison to call for the return of our girls since they were taken from the Chibok secondary school.
“We will continue to raise awareness and to insist that our military gets better welfare to boost their morale,” Dr Okei-Odumakin said.
Also yesterday, the House of Representatives urged President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to do everything possible to re-unite the remaining 219 Chibok girls kidnapped over a year ago in Borno state to their parents, before handing over to the new administration on May 29.
The resolution of the House was sequel to a motion sponsored by Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, APC, Lagos under matters of urgent national importance.
Mrs Dabiri-Erewa, moving the motion, said it is one year since Boko Haram stormed the school in Borno and abducted over 200 girls.
“It is exactly one year since Boko Haram terrorists stormed the premises of GSS Chibok in Borno State and took away almost 300 students who were preparing to write their school certificate final examination.
“It is unfortunate that the innocent girls were captured virtually unchallenged and government was unresponsive for over two weeks and one year on, it deeply hurts that no concrete information is available as to the whereabouts of our missing girls from Chibok.”
Members who spoke in support of the motion include Friday Itulah, Nnena Elendu- Ukeje, Jumoke Okoya- Thomas, Nkoyo Toyo, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, Ife Arowosoge, Stella Odogwu.
Friday Itulah noted that the issue of the Chibok Girls “is a sore thorn in the flesh of this administration. The Jonathan administration should ensure that before the 29 of May we are celebrating the return of the girls.”
Hon. Stella Odogwu said the issues surrounding the missing girls is a mystery.
“It is a criminal act that should not be condoned.”
Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas urged prayers for the girls. “We should not forget the girls in prayers. It is easy to forget. It is the duty of the government to protect the citizens. We hope Nigerian will never see this kind of situation again.They said 50 were found. If this is true then the others can come back.”
Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha expressed surprise that “they are not back” and admonished that the girls should not be forgotten. Her colleague, Ife Arowosoge, wanted definite answers over the issue.
“Are you sure they are in Nigeria and are alive? The chief of Army Staff must tell us,” he insisted.
Tambuwal in his ruling noted that the motion is an important one and that “it is dear to our hearts”. He further said “I wish to add that as a nation we must do everything humanly possible to bring the girls back.
“We pray that God in his infinite wisdom and mercy should guide our security agents on the recovery of the girls.”
He said it is sad that the girls have been missing for a whole year. “Even the claim by the Military that they know where the girls are have turned out not to be correct. I think we have to be serious about it.”
When he called for a vote on the motion, it was overwhelmingly supported by all members.
Members of the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy yesterday said they appreciated President-elect Muhammadu Buhari for “his kind and soothing words” on the occasion of the one year commemoration.
The group demanded that the safe return of the girls be made top agenda of the transition between the present and the incoming government.
In a statement by Dr Oby Ezekwesilli and Hadiza Bala-Usman , they stated: “Today, 14 April, 2015 is that dreadful day we never imagined will come without having back our missing precious 219 Chibok schoolgirls, abducted exactly one year ago today.
“We thank Nigeria’s president-elect for his kind and soothing words on the occasion of this one-year commemoration; wherein he promises among other things to do everything he can to #BringBackOurGirls when he becomes the president, if they are still alive. However, this does not address our concerns. We demand that the safe return of our girls be the top agenda of the transition between the present and the incoming one.
“We have just concluded a march by #ChibokGirlsAmbassadors (part of the global schoolgirl march). We express our immense gratitude to our #ChibokGirlsAmbassadors for being the right voices to carry the message of their generational peers on a day like this.”
They urged the United Nations to “deploy relevant instruments in ensuring the prompt rescue of our Chibok girls and other abductees, as well as improve the security situation in the country”.
The Chibok girls ambassadors and members of the #BBOG advocacy staged a peaceful protest to the Ministry of Education to demand for the release of the girls and demand to know what the ministry was doing to assist with the rescue efforts.
Although the ministry locked them out for almost an hour without allowing the children into the premises, its Director, Human Resources Management, Mohammed Umar, later met with them and the girls gave him an ultimatum of May 29 for the Chibok girls’ rescue.
