The Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, group has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to redouble his efforts towards the rescue of the abducted Chibok girls.
The group in a statement signed by Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Aisha Oyebode, Ayo Obe, Habiba Balogun, Yemi Adamolekun, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Ngozi Iwere, Olalere Babasola, and Adwoa Edun said it expected the President to do more rather than the lack of intelligence currently being exhibited by his administration.
The statement reads, “The BBOG family in Nigeria has engaged on a continuous basis various stakeholders including state governors; the previous chief of defense staff & national security adviser; various UN agencies; ambassadors of our neighbouring countries and met twice with President Muhammadu Buhari on this matter.
“Sincerely, we had expected more and will continue to demand more from government than the rhetorics of lack of intelligence and other excuses.
“This Thursday, April 14, 2016, will mark exactly two years of their unfortunate sojourn in captivity! How much longer must we wait before they are rescued?
“As concerned stakeholders and citizens of this country, the Bring-Back-Our-Girls (BBOG) advocacy group has highlighted the plight of these innocent girls even at a global level and engaged the government and other agencies in a constructive manner to secure the rescue of the girls.
“Our advocacy methodology include a daily sit-out in Abuja, weekly sit-outs in Lagos, Oshogbo, and Ibadan; visits to relevant stakeholders and development of tools like the Citizens’ Solutions to End Terrorism and the Verification, Authentication and Reunification System (VARS).”
BBOG, however, criticised the Nigerian Army for rescuing some women and girls, but said the girls were still missing and must be found.
It said, “No doubt you have heard from the media that thousands of abducted women and girls have been rescued by our military.
“Unfortunately, the Chibok girls are not among the rescued. For the families and loved ones of the Chibok Girls, it has been painful two years of deep sorrow, uncertainty, fear and heartache that words cannot describe.
“We are aware that the Chibok girls are not the only victims of the insurgency in the north- east. Nigerians were kidnapped before them and more have been kidnapped after them.
“However, for the Chibok girls, we know their names, we have their pictures and we have met their parents. We will continue to use them as symbol for the ongoing crisis because we believe that whatever machinery is deployed to rescue them will help other Nigerians.
“As President Buhari noted in his inaugural address to the Nigerian people, ‘we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.’”
The group described the situation in the north-eastern part of Nigeria as the worst humanitarian crisis since the civil war.
Comments