Provide evidence of ceasefire, Ezekwesili tells government

Oby Ezekwesili, former minister of education and leader of the #BringBackOurGirls group (BBOG), has challenged the government to provide evidence of the ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram.

Ezekwesili, who said she would be delighted if the sect releases the Chibok girls in accordance with the ceasefire deal, added that poor management of information on the insurgency has forced many to disbelieve reports of a peace deal.

She further said the way to erase any iota of disbelief is to provide proof of the deal.

“The best evidence that the government can give would be for one of the negotiators to be pictured in the midst of the abducted girls,” she told Channels television.

“The reason is simple; there have been many other times where allusion to the girls being freed have been made and have come out of government sources.

“We want to completely believe that this time, we are not going to get any recanting from what has already been offered the public concerning the girls.

“In the whole issue concerning the Chibok girls, we have seen quite some information that have not been properly managed, and in the course of poor management of the information, it has given room for doubt and skepticism about whatever is said.”

Lamenting the fate of the girls, Ezekwesili said those saying that patience ought to be exercised with the government over the release of the girls were not realistic.

“If their children were the ones, they would not speak like that. It is too much of a mental agony to have a child who has experienced something like that,” she said.

“One thing that is unique in our case is the massive scale of the people taken hostage in our territory.”

She maintained that BBOG has no ties with any political party and that the sole objective of the group is for the girls to be rescued.

“Whether it is PDP or APC, they should just get the girls back,” she said.