BBOG: Parents of rescued Chibok girl are currently IDPs

The Bring Back Out Girls (BBOG) movement says the parents of rescued Chibok girl, Salomi Pogu, are currently internally displaced persons (IDPs).

According to the BBOG, Pogu’s parents reside in an IDP camp in Rumirgo village, Askira/Uba LGA of Borno state.

The Nigerian army announced on Thursday that it had rescued Pogu from the militants’ custody.

Onyema Nwachukwu, deputy director of army public relations, had said Pogu alongside a teenager identified as Jamila Adams and a child were rescued at Pulka, a town in Borno.

In a statement issued shortly after the development, BBOG expressed joy at the release of the Chibok girl but said it would resume its protest to Aso Rock on January 23 to press for the release of the remaining girls in Boko Haram custody.

The statement issued by Sesugh Akume, BBOG spokesman, read: “Our movement is delighted to confirm this news to be true. Salomi Pogu is a daughter of Mallam Pogu Yahi from Kaumutahyahi, a village in Kuburmbula ward of Chibok LGA. Both her parents are currently IDPs in Rumirgo village, in nearby Askira/Uba LGA in Borno state.

“She is Number 15 on the publicly known list of missing #ChibokGirls NOT Number 86 as the statement by the military said. This brings the number of our missing #ChibokGirls to 112.

“We are yet to ascertain further details about Jamila Adams and the baby.

“Our monthly #BBOGMarchToTheVilla for our #ChibokGirls (and others) for the month of January comes up from Tuesday 23 January.”

In 2014, Boko Haram fighters kidnapped 276 girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.

Of that number, 164 are now free: 57 fled in the early days after their abduction, three more escaped later, while a mediation secured the release of 103 in 2017.

Pogu is the latest abducted Chibok girl to taste freedom.

The BBOG has been on the forefront of the campaign for the release of the girls.