The national security adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (retd), has declared that Nigerian troops prosecuting the Boko Haram war in the North-East will rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls and other Nigerians being held by the insurgents before the May 29 handover date.
Dasuki, who gave the assurance yesterday during a media chat to commemorate the first anniversary of the girls, also revealed that troops would invade the Sambisa Forest in Borno State before the swearing-in of the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari.
The NSA noted that the federal government was making all the necessary efforts to ensure that the girls, along with other Nigerians abducted by the terrorists, were rescued, saying that every movement of the terrorists was being monitored.
“Right now, all Boko Haram camps, except Sambisa Forest, have been destroyed. Every movement of the terrorists is being monitored and every necessary detail is being taken care of to rid the country of the last bastion of terrorists’ infestation,” he said.
“Aside the Chibok girls, other Nigerian girls, boys, men and women were abducted by the terrorists and all efforts are being made to rescue them all.”
According to him, the Sambisa Forest would have since been liberated but for the unfavourable weather condition prevailing in the area, as all needed reconnaissance activities and necessary deployment of troops had been made for the operation.
The security adviser, who appealed for more time to complete the routing of the terrorists, recalled that before elections were postponed in February, over 20 local governments were occupied by Boko Haram, adding that most Nigerians are pleasantly surprised that so much was achieved against the insurgents within six weeks.
Dasuki also reacted to the acceptance of defeat by incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that the president took everyone by surprise.
He commended Jonathan on the successful 2015 elections, and disclosed that nobody pressured the president into conceding defeat.
“President Jonathan had already given his word to all the security and service chiefs before the election that he would abide by the decision of Nigerians. At the meeting, he also told them to perform their duties professionally during the polls.
“While we anticipated that he would congratulate his opponent if the result is announced in favour of the opposition candidate, he gratuitously, without prompting of anyone, conceded defeat to the surprise of all.
“By that singular gesture, he saved the security agencies and the nation of unnecessary tension and stress in maintaining law and order and curtailing the excesses of likely protesters,” Dasuki said.
Dasuki had, shortly after the postponement of elections in February, assured Nigerians and international community that all known terrorists’ camps would be destroyed while most of the occupied communities under Boko Haram in three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe would be liberated to allow for peaceful conduct of elections.
Reps To Jonathan: Find Chibok girls alive
Exactly one year after the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, the House of Representatives yesterday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to do everything possible to find them alive.
The House resolution followed a motion on a matter of urgent public importance moved by Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa (APC, Lagos) on the continued abduction of the over 200 girls kidnapped from their school in Borno State since April 14, 2014.
Before reconvening yesterday, the House had adjourned for two weeks since April 1 to allow members to participate in last weekend’s governorship election in which some of them were contestants.
Daribi-Erewa, in the lead debate, told her colleagues at plenary that it was imperative for the federal government under President Jonathan to do everything possible to find the abducted girls alive, noting that it was exactly one year that about 219 female students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents without any concrete information on their fate.
“One year on, we don’t know whether they are dead or alive, married, pregnant or scattered in different locations. It is one of the saddest happenings in our country.
“Imagine that your child is missing for a day; we must be able to know where they are. Nigerians should not forget these girls,’’ Dabiri-Erewa said.
Speaking in the same vein, Hon. Nnenna Ukeje (PDP, Abia) commended the efforts of the “Bring Back Our Girls” campaigners towards the rescue of the missing girls, adding that they also deserve a mention given their daily advocacy for the return of the girls in the last one year.
Also, Hon. Friday Itula (PDP, Edo), said that the continued abduction of the schoolgirls remain a thorn in the flesh of the current administration. He therefore appealed to the federal government to ensure the recovery of the girls before the May 29 hand over date.
For his part, Speaker of the House or Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, gave the assurance that the country would do everything possible to ensure the rescue of the girls, describing the situation as unfortunate.
He noted that the amendments of the Anti-terrorism Bill as well as the passage of the Defence Budget without reductions were geared towards ensuring successful counter-insurgency operations.
“Even the claims by the armed forces – that they knew where the girls were – turned out not to be correct. This issue is very emotional and dear to our heart. As a nation we must do everything possible to recover these girls. It is very unfortunate that we got to this level. As a government, we must recover these girls. It is very sad; it is very touching,” Tambuwal said.
It’s a moral duty – Soyinka
As the Chibok girls clocked one year in captivity yesterday, prominent Nigerians like Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, Professor Pat Utomi and Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, among others, have lamented their continued captivity.
The eminent Nigerians, who converged on Lagos for the one-year commemoration symposium organised by Women Arise in Lagos, condemned the kidnapping of the school girls and government’s inability to rescue them.
The said it was a major task for the in-coming administration to rescue the girls and put an end to the problem of insurgency in the country.
Speaking at the forum, Soyinka decried the ordeals of the abducted schoolgirls just as he took a swipe at the military and the federal government for their perceived slow approach in rescuing the girls after their kidnap in April 2014.
Soyinka said the abduction of the school girls was one out of many atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram, noting that Nigerians had a duty to deploy a concerted approach to deal with problem of terrorism.
On his part, Prof Utomi said since the kidnap of the Chibok girls last year, many Nigerians have been greatly troubled by the terrorists’ act.
“For one year, our conscience has been held hostage. Anyone whose conscience has not been held hostage is not a human being. Terror is not something we can tolerate in our society; it is something we must stamp out.
“We are not going to stay in our house and fold our arms. We must stand up to those who their way of life is terror because we are much more than them. Today is also not just about singing Bring Our Girls Back, but to stay together to fight for what is right,” he said.
The convener and national coordinator of Women Arise, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, said the event was organised as a way of putting the misfortune in the consciousness of those in government – that they owe Nigerians the responsibility of finding the missing girls.
“Where are the girls? Didn’t the government say they sighted the girls already?” she asked. “That’s months ago. So, why are we still here asking, ‘rescue our girls’? This government has one inescapable assignment before the end of this regime. Otherwise, it would have failed us altogether. The assignment is a compulsory rescue of Chibok girls.”
We must never forget the Chibok girls – Ban Ki- Moon
UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon has declared that the missing Chibok girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram insurgents must never be forgotten.
In a statement to mark the first anniversary of the girls’ abduction from their school in Borno State, he said, “The children of north-eastern Nigeria and neighbouring countries must be allowed to live in peace and enjoy their right to a safe education.
He recalled that while some of the girls were fortunate to have escaped their captors, the fate of many still remains unknown.
“We must never forget the kidnapped Chibok girls, and I will not stop calling for their immediate release and their safe return to their families. I also remain deeply concerned by the group’s repeated and cowardly attacks targeting schools, in grave violation of international humanitarian law. Going to school should not have to be an act of bravery,” he added.
According to him, over the past 12 months, Boko Haram had intensified its brutal attacks on boys and girls in Nigeria and neighbouring countries, displacing hundreds of thousands of children from their homes, and depriving them their rights to live and grow up in safety, dignity and peace.
He further described Boko Haram’s killing, abduction and recruitment of children, including the use of girls as suicide bombers, as abhorrent.
He, however, asserted that the legitimate response to Boko Haram’s attacks must be fully consistent with international law so as not to create additional risks to the girls, adding that he was giving his full support to governments and peoples of the region in the fight against Boko Haram.
One Year Commemoration: BBOG demands that abducted girls be top agenda in transitional programme
The #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group has called on the federal government to make the safe return of the abducted Chibok girls the top agenda of the transition between the present and the incoming government.
While briefing the press yesterday, a member of the group, Maureen Kabrik, who read out the release signed by the leader of the group, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, urged the Nigeria’s president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari to do everything in his power to bring back the girls if they had not returned by May 29.
“We thank Nigeria’s president-elect for his kind and soothing words on the occasion of this one-year commemoration, wherein he promised among other things to do everything he can to #BringBackOurGirls when he becomes the president, if they are still alive,” she said.
While expressing sadness that after one year of the girls’ abduction, they are still in the hands of their abductors, she thanked everyone who had stood by the group in its effort to make sure that the voices of the missing girls were not forgotten.
“The citizens across Nigeria and around the world have participated in several solidarity activities for our #ChibokGirls in the last one year. We must acknowledge empathetic people all over the world who have raised their voices for our girls; from the one million women in Mexico who marched for their cause, to the hundreds of thousands who have stood for this cause from Mexico to South Africa, to the UK, to Afghanistan, New Zealand to Syria, to Japan, the US and so on. Rich, poor; male, female; the young and the older, across all walks and perceived divides, all bound in a shared humanity demanding #BringBackOurGirls Now and Alive! We stand in solidarity with you today as you mark this day.
It noted that one of the special commemoration activities yesterday was the lighting of the Empire State Building in New York City with the colours red and purple – red specifically for our #ChibokGirls, and purple for campaign against violence on women generally.
The group also praised world figures who had shown great support to the campaign to free the girls, including United States first lady Michelle Obama, youngest Noble Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and global music icon, Alicia Keys, as well as the media.
“Our #ChibokGirls is the global symbol for the defence of the dignity and sanctity of human life; of the girl-child, women, for all those oppressed, repressed, disadvantaged, hurting, unsafe persons everywhere. As long as they stay missing, it means nothing is as yet working. We must all prioritise their safe return,” she said.
The BBOG group called on the United Nations to deploy relevant instruments in ensuring the prompt rescue of the girls and other abducted persons as well as improve the security situation in the country.
It also called on the world leaders and other members of the international community to reactivate their support for the #BringBackOurGirls cause until the girls are back and insurgency becomes a thing of the past.
The group held a candle light procession in commemoration of the girls’ one year in captivity.
…As 219 Chibok girls ambassadors take protest to ministry of education
Young girls of ages 10 to 18, who were picked as the Chibok girls’ ambassadors, stormed the Federal Ministry of Education yesterday in commemoration of one year that the girls were abducted in their school by Boko Haram.
The girls, who spoke with tears in their eyes, expressed outrage that for one full year, the abducted girls have not been found, saying that they see themselves in the girls whose dream were crushed overnight by the insurgency.
Speaking on behalf of the ambassadors, Maryam Ahmed expressed sadness that many students in northern Nigeria were scared to go to school for fear of being abducted like the Chibok girls, just as she demanded that the government give clear details of what is being done to bring the girls back.
While stating their disappointment at being locked out of the ministry when they arrived at the area, the girls urged government to show strong commitment and concern about the abduction of the missing girls.
The ministry’s director, Human Resources Management, Mohammed Bello Umar, who represented the minister of education, promised to convey the girls’ message to the minister.
He also reassured them that government was doing everything possible to rescue the abducted girls.
Chibok girls still alive, Salkida insists
The journalist with known links to the Boko Haram sect, Ahmad Salkida, has said that the over 200 abducted Chibok girls are still alive and healthy.
Salkida, in an exclusive interview with the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said that the abducted Chibok girls were of paramount importance to the extremists because, according to Salkida, the schoolgirls had accepted the sects’ doctrines.
It is believed that Salkida still maintains a first-hand contact with the group; he is, therefore, seen as the world’s topmost authority in terms of information as far as Boko Haram is concerned.
The journalist, who had facilitated the aborted negotiations between the federal government and Boko Haram, had earlier told President Goodluck Jonathan before the deadlock that force could not bring the abducted girls back alive from the sect’s den.
During Salkida’s meeting with President Jonathan in Aso Rock last year, he proposed a prisoner swap in which the government would exchange the girls for captured terrorists in detention but the deal did not sail through.
NLC counsels Buhari on Chibok girls
As Nigerians yesterday remembered the first anniversary of the kidnap of Chibok girls, a faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Comrade Joe Ajaero has called on the president-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, to make the rescue of the Chibok girls his priority when he assumes office on May 29, this year.
This union made this call at the end of Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting chaired by Comrade Ajaero in Lagos.
Members of the CWC emphasised that as a nation “we cannot continue to agonise over the kidnap of the Chibok girls. The congress therefore urges the present administration and the incoming president to do all within his powers to ensure the release of the girls.
“We also call on the president-elect to give this issue utmost priority within the first 30 days of his assumption of office. We believe it is possible to salvage the situation and rise up to say never again will Nigerians feel insecure in their homes, markets among others,” they said.
Saraki urges Nigerians to be hopeful on return of Chibok school girls
The chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Dr Bukola Saraki, has urged Nigerians to be hopeful of the return of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
Saraki, in a statement signed by his media aide, Bamikole Omisore, said that Nigerians “must remain hopeful of their return, and steadfast in our determination to find them.”
Chibok was attacked 6 times after girls’ abduction – Community
The Kibaku (Chibok) Area Development Association (KADA) has revealed that the community was attacked six times by Boko Haram after the Chibok girls were abducted in their school on April 14, last year.
Briefing the press to commemorate the first anniversary of the girls’ abduction, the national secretary of KADA, Engr Battah Ndirpaya, revealed that the people of the community had been haunted, displaced, traumatized and living in agony as refugees and internally displaced persons.
He said that there was also looming famine in the community and its environs as a result of the insurgency, explaining that the insurgents destroyed foodstuff and livestock.
The terrorists also poisoned the town’s primary source of water, he said.
Ndirpaya stated that even with the gloomy state of the community, they are hopeful that the Chibok girls will either be brought back alive before May 29 or after by the incoming president, Muhammadu Buhari.., Ndirpaya thanked the #BringBackOurGirls group (BBOG) for its tenacity in advocating for the girls’ rescue, Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai for speaking out for the girls and other individuals and groups all over the world who had helped in the advocacy for the girls’ rescue.
“We will also like to use this opportunity to express our appreciation to all governments, the press, NGOs and well-meaning individuals around the world who stood and continue to stand by us through this traumatic incident and urge all to persevere to the end. We see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
US predicts challenge in protecting Nigerian citizens
The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, has predicted that the new government in Nigeria might face the challenge of protecting its citizens against terrorism threats.
Kerry made the assertion in a statement by the African Regional Media Hub of the United States Department of State yesterday in Lagos.
The statement quoted Kerry as making the prediction after signing a Memorandum of Cooperation to support disease control and prevention in Africa with the African Union (AU) in Washington D.C.
“One of the principal challenges facing the new government in Abuja will be that of protecting Nigerian citizens from the terrorism threat. The U.S. endorses the effort by the AU and its partners to establish a multinational taskforce to halt Boko Haram’s campaign within and beyond Nigeria’s borders.
“We will also continue generally to help African governments to improve their counter-terrorism and border security capabilities,’’ it stated.
Boko Haram abducted 2,000 Women In 2014 – Amnesty International
A rights group, Amnesty International, has said that Boko Haram has abducted at least 2,000 women and girls since the start of 2014.
According to a report published by the organization, many of those captured by Boko Haram have been forced into sexual slavery and trained to fight for the group.
Amnesty International’s secretary-general, Salil Shetty, said that the evidence presented in this shocking report, one year after the horrific abduction of the Chibok girls, underlined the scale and depravity of Boko Haram’s methods.
The publication of the report coincides with the one-year anniversary of the mass abduction by Boko Haram of hundreds of school girls from Chibok town in Borno State.
The abduction of the 276 girls sparked global outrage, and 219 are still held by the group, the others managing to escape.
Amnesty said more than 5,500 civilians have been killed by the group, which has also forcibly conscripted men and young boys to take up arms in its war against the Nigerian government and other neighbouring countries.
“Men and women, boys and girls, Christians and Muslims, have been killed, abducted and brutalised by Boko Haram during a reign of terror which has affected millions,” Shetty said.
He noted that recent military successes might spell the beginning of the end for Boko Haram, but that there is a huge amount to be done to protect civilians, resolve the humanitarian crisis and begin the healing process.
“Amnesty International is hopeful that a new government in Nigeria, elected in March, will offer a fresh approach to combating the group, which it says has not been properly investigated and prosecuted thus far,” Shetty added.
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