Over 50 of the girls abducted by Boko Haram in April last year from Chibok in Borno State were sighted three weeks ago, a woman revealed to BBC.
She claimed the girls were seen in Gwoza town before the Boko Haram militants were sacked in a renewed military campaign.
DAILY POST recalls that one of the major security threats in Nigeria as at today is the issue of Boko Haram insurgency and the inability of the Nigerian government to tackle headlong the menace. It was exactly one year yesterday since the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped.
The Nigerian government and the military had earlier said that it was aware of where the girls were kept, however in its renewed tactics against the insurgents, the girls and other women and children kidnapped by the insurgents are yet to be released.
President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier promised that the Chibok girls would be rescued in the renewed military onslaught. Jonathan will be handing over to the President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on May 29 and it remains unclear if he will be able to rescue the girls and other victims before then.
The woman, who had lived under Boko Haram’s leadership in Gwoza, said she saw the girls in Islamic attire, being escorted by the militants.
The freed woman who pleaded that her identity must not been made public affirmed: “They said they were Chibok girls kept in a big house.
“We just happened to be on the same road with them,” she added.
Another set of women have disclosed to the BBC that some of the girls had been seen in Gwoza.
It would be recalled that despite the recapture of Gwoza town last month from the insurgents, the girls have not been sighted by the regional forces.
A woman who also spoke to the BBC said she saw some of the girls in November at a Boko Haram camp in Bita village, north-east Nigeria.
“About a week after they were brought to the camp, one of us peeked through a window and asked: ‘Are you really the Chibok girls?’ and they said: ‘Yes’. We believed them and didn’t ask them again,” the woman said.
“They took Koranic lessons, cleaned their compound, cooked for themselves and they braided each other’s hair. They were treated differently – their food [was] better and water clean. “
Despite the failure of the current government to rescue the girls as promised, the President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday that the Chibok girls will be rescued by his government.
While marking the Chibok girls one-year in captivity, Gen. Buhari said: “Today, we remember the kidnapping of 276 girls from a school in Chibok one year ago. This crime has rightly caused outrage both in Nigeria and across the world.
“Today is a time to reflect on the pain and suffering of the victims, their friends and families. Our thoughts and prayers, and that of the whole Nigerian Nation, are with you today.
“I want to assure all of them, and particularly the parents, that when my new Administration takes office at the end of May, we will do everything we can to defeat Boko Haram. We will act differently from the Government we replace: we hear the anguish of our citizens and intend to respond accordingly.
“This new approach must also begin with honesty. We do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued. Their whereabouts remain unknown. As much as I wish to, I cannot promise that we can find them.
‘’But I say to every parent, family member and friend of the children that my Government will do everything in its power to bring them home.
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