Chibok community to Buhari: Fulfill your promise of rescuing remaining school girls

The Kibaku area development association (KADA), also known as the Chibok community, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill his promise of rescuing the remaining Borno schoolgirls abducted by terrorists. 

Nkeki Mutah, chairman of the association, spoke on Friday while marking nine years of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, in Abuja.

In April 2014, over 200 students were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok in Borno.

Mutah said Buhari had on several occasions pledged to eradicate insurgency and rescue the schoolgirls from the terrorists.

He said despite setting up a five-man committee in 2016 which was headed by Babagana Monguno, national security adviser, some of the school girls are still missing.

“Today, 14 April 2023, marks exactly nine (9) years since 276 schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok were abducted in their school on the night of 14-15 April 2014; 57 escaped, 219 Chibok girls were missing for years until Amina Ali Nkeki escaped and was found on 17 May 2018, 25 months and 3 days after the abduction,” he said.

“As of today, 126 Chibok girls are back, 92 of them remain missing for exactly 3,285 days. Within this time up to 20 parents of our missing girls have passed on mostly from heart conditions due to the trauma they suffered, and some from terrorist attacks.

“In his first inauguration speech on May 29, 2015, President Buhari clearly stated that ‘But we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and other innocent persons held by the insurgents.

“On 24th of December 2015, President Buhari declared that Nigeria had ‘technically won the war against the terrorists; this, without the return of one single Chibok girl or others in captivity as promised in his inauguration speech.

“I assure you that I go to bed and wake up every day with the Chibok girls in my mind. Securing [the return of] the Chibok girls is my responsibility. And God knows I have done my best and will continue to do my best, were some of the things he said. The investigation committee was never inaugurated, never took off, never met once, to this day.

“On 19 February 2018, 110 schoolgirls of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi were abducted by the terrorists. Five of them did not survive the attack, and all of the surviving 105 of them eventually returned except Leah Sharibu, who at the time was a 14-year-old girl.

“Our appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari as he leaves office in another 6 weeks is to remember that he made promises that are yet to be fully fulfilled. There are 92 Chibok girls still in captivity whom he made a promise about.

“There are 14 Chibok girls who are back but held in custody with no information about them or any headway. There is Leah Sharibu who is still in captivity to this day. We are also very concerned about the seemingly rising confidence of the terrorists who recently shared images of their newly trained recruits.”