Today April 14 marks
the 6th year since the abduction of the Chibok school girls by members of the
Boko Haram sect.
The sect members
stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno state and
abducted 276 of them. 57 of them managed to escape when the truck used to
convey them broke down. In October 2016, 21 of the girls were freed; and in May
2017, another batch of 82 were released from captivity. 13 of the girls are presumed dead while 112
of the girls are still in captivity.
In a statement
released by his media aide, Garba Shehu, President Buhari vowed never to forget
the remaining girls as his government will do everything it can to ensure they
are rescued alive.
On the specific
issue of the freedom for the remaining girls held by the terrorists, the
President noted the ongoing efforts on two fronts. He said the armed forces of
the country who are on general operations in the entire region continue in
their hope that they would encounter these girls, as they did thousands of
other hostages, rescue and bring them back home. The President added that the
nation’s security and intelligence community is reposed in rescuing the
abducted girls is making a lot of efforts using backroom channels to get them
back to their families.
The President added
that the crisis within the leadership of the terrorist group has stalled the
negotiations for the release of the girls.
“The issue of the
Chibok girls is not a forgotten issue. We cannot go to sleep over this matter.
We are optimistic that ongoing efforts will yield something positive.
Unfortunately, an
ongoing crisis within the Boko Haram leadership, which has led to factions and
breakaway groups, brought a number of unforeseen challenges to the process of
negotiating with the militants for the young women’s release.
In the past few
years, our armed forces have recorded huge successes in the battle against Boko
Haram, but they have also been careful to ensure that as few civilian lives as
possible were lost in the process. We would rather the young women still in
captivity were freed alive'' he said
President Buhari in
his statement, acknowledged the progress being made by the freed ‘Chibok
girls’, who were sponsored by his administration to study at the American
University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, saying that he is proud of what they are
doing. He encouraged them to remain focused on their studies and on this unique
opportunity that has been given to them by God, following their horrific time
in captivity.
He also commended
Yakubu Nkeki, Lawan Zannah and Yana Galang, the executive officials of the Association
of the Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok, on their steadfast efforts to
advocate for the welfare of the parents, the freed women, and those still in
captivity.
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