A Federal Government delegation have visited Chibok in commemoration of the two years abduction of 219 school girls and prayed for the safe return of the girls with their parents.
The presidential delegation, which included the Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, Minister of State for National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, her Works, Power and Housing counterpart, Hon Mustapha Baba Shehuri, Sen Ali Ndume (Borno South) and Sen Binta Garba (Adamawa North), joined Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno State at the School where the girls were taken from and offered prayers for their safe return.
It could be recalled that the 219 teenage girls were kidnapped on April 14, 2014 at Government Girls Secondary School Chibok by Boko Haram terrorists.
The leader of the parents of the Chibok girls, Mr Yakubu Nkeki said the grief and sorrow of their missing daughters are boldly written on their faces and that only the release of their daughters can relieve their pains.
He asked “We cannot fathom your definite location and the condition you are in right now. Are you alive or dead? Are you pregnant, put to bed or empty? Have you eaten the food of your choice or forced to eat something against your will? Have you taken your bath today? How do you take care of yourself during your menstrual flow?”.
He said they were aware nobody could answer some of the posers except the abductors of their daughters, urging the government to step up efforts at freeing the girls.
He said the parents expressed concern over the silence surrounding the report of a Presidential Fact-finding Committee set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan to establish facts surrounding the abduction of their children, adding that they demand that the findings of the committee be made public so that they will know if anyone has questions to answer. The committee, made up of mostly members selected by President Jonathan had submitted its report in 2014 but the then President did not make the report public.
Mr. Yakubu alleged that the Federal Government was not doing enough to free the school girls even as he appealed to the state government to rebuild their destroyed school.
Speaking at the occasion, Governor Shettima said former President Goodluck Jonathan should be blamed for the woes of the Chibok parents, adding that the school girls would have been freed few days after the abduction had the President acted.
Shettima said “President Goodluck didn’t even believe the abduction took place. Perhaps that was why he and his wife never visited Chibok even for once. One noisy governor even recently said the abduction of our daughters was false. This clearly shows their mentality, I urge you to pray the more.”
He challenged the people to submit the lists of indigenous contractors of Chibok extraction to the government for consideration for the award of contracts for the building of new schools and hospital in Chibok.
In their separate remarks, Senators Ndume and Binta appealed to the parents and families of the girls to be united in prayers. “President Buhari is committed to securing the release of the girls but we need to be focused and support the government. It is not time for blames,” Ndume said, a position supported by Senator Binta. She said the presence of a government delegation of three ministers, senators and other senior officials in Chibok to pray with the people underscores the sensitivity of the presidency to the Chibok issue.
Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Ibrahim announced the Federal Government’s donation of a truck of food items, clothing and money for the mothers of the missing girls. Chairman, Chibok Local Government, Abba Lawan thanked the Federal Government’s delegation and the state government. The initiator of the #BringBackOurGirls# campaign, Dr Aisha Bala Usman, also attended the commemorative event.
