Women march for Buhari over release of Kankara schoolboys

Women in their hundreds, on Monday, thronged the streets of the federal capital territory, Abuja, singing and jubilating over the safe return of over 300 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina state. 

The group, under the aegis of Women For Buhari (WFB), said they are proud of the president for “again acting like a true father and leader” who has the nation’s interest at heart.

Speaking on behalf of the women at the Unity Fountain, Princess Ajibola, The president of WFB, said as wives, mothers and sisters, they are the greatest  beneficiaries of this quick intervention by Buhari and the security agencies.

Recalling the trauma families of the Chibok girls went through, Ajibola said the women broke down in tears when the news of the abduction of the schoolboys surfaced.

But she recounted that the cheering reports of their release brought uncontrollable joy and sense of pride.

According to Ajibola, Buhari’s swift approach ensured the release of the children.

Commending the president, she added that his patriotism and concern for the lives and property of the citizens is second to none.

While also applauding the service chiefs for their cooperation, the women hailed the efforts of the troops who put their lives on the line several times to ensure saftey of Nigerians.

Read full statement below:

I am delighted to address the world on this auspicious occasion of the release of the over 300 secondary school boys abducted by bandits in Kankara, Katsina State.

We as wives, mothers and sisters wish to say that we are the greatest  beneficiaries of this quick intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies. 

As wives, we know how painful  it would feel for a house to experience the absence of a child. As mothers, we know what it means for a child carried in the womb for nine months to go missing in one day. While God has imbued our men with the strength to bear such emotional breakdowns with restrain, for us as mothers,  that pain is doubled by the bond we have with the children and our tendencies to be highly emotional in the face of tragedies.

When the incident happened, we put ourselves in the shoes of the biological mothers of those children and we felt the exact pains they were going through. We recall how many parents of the Chibok girls who could not withstand the psychological trauma of losing their children to unknown persons gave up and breathed their last as a result of the despondency.

As the nation is yet to recover fully from the Chibok incident, the news that over 300 teenage boys have been abducted again, but this time.at a science secondary in Kankara, Katsina State was too much for us to bear. 

This is because these are promising children who like the Chibok girls, were abducted from their schools while studying. When we saw the video of some of the boys with one of them pleading to the government to intervene on their behalf, most of us broke down and wept as we couldn’t take it any more. 

To us, the video confirmed our worst fears that the Kankara school boys may have gone the way of the Chibok girls whose rescue dimmed from the day the Boko Haram terrorists started parading them in videos and using them to bargain.

But alas! On Thursday night, barely a week after the abduction took place, we received the good news that the Kankara school boys have been  released. We asked ourselves whether we were dreaming or it was some mischief makers at work. But it turned out that it is true that the over 300 boys abducted by bandits at the Government Senior Science Secondary School, Kankara have been released.

We followed the story up to the point that they were taken to the Government House, Katsina and we leapt for joy! This is why we have called for a rally today to show appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to serving our nation. This is someone who has seen it all and could have chosen to retire and enjoy his perks as a former head of state and a retired General.

But his sense of patriotism and concern for the lives and property of the citizens has made him to offer to serve us we say without fear of contradiction that it is his leadership style that has made is recover these intact because we remember how a previous administration had handled the matter when faced with a similar challenge.

In simple words, we have gathered to say thank you to our father, President Buhari for not letting us down in our time of trial. We thank him for acting swiftly using the right approach which have seen our children back home without a single shot fired. 

We are grateful to Mr. President that not only have the boys returned, but all of them are in good shape and high spirits. We cannot but feel the joy of their mothers who like us, must be shedding uncontrolled tears of joy. President Buhari has always acted like a true father and as a leader who identifies with the youths. It was this love for children that he has that had made the President to introduce the school feeding programme in primary schools.

We thank the Service for the level of cooperation between them which has negated the bid for unnecessary rivalry and helped in fighting insecurity. Again we say without fear of contradiction that a wise team does not change a winning coach.