The #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) coalition on Sunday demanded more information from the Federal Government on the reported death of 97 Chibok schoolgirls in Boko Haram captivity, noting that the revelation raised weighty issues the government could not brush aside.
The group stated that the government reaction to revelation by a journalist, Ahmed Salkida, that the remaining 15 girls had been married off to the insurgents, was ‘insubstantial.’
Salkida had in a series of tweets last Friday, stated that most of the girls died during bombings and exchange of gunfire between the insurgents and the military, adding that the remaining 15 girls had been married off and might not be seen again.
The Federal Government had in its reaction said all the girls were alive, but Salkida in a tweet on Sunday, challenged the government and the insurgents to prove him wrong with a proof of life video.
“What I don’t get is, did government provide life saving drugs, bulletproof vests and bunkers for the #Chibokgirls in captivity amidst harsh conditions, daily cross fires and bombardments? I threw a challenge, the government or the insurgents can only refute me with a proof of life video,” he tweeted.
But the BBOG spokesman, Sesugh Akume, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, asked the government to make available information on the status of the girls from its international contacts.
He said, “Our immediate response is that Salkida’s statement has raised issues too weighty for the seemingly insubstantial response by the Federal Government.
“The Federal Government claims that it has officials and international contacts assisting in the process of getting our girls back.
“It follows therefore that the Federal Government has the added responsibility of making available the assuring details which it has from its officials and international contacts.”
