The people of Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, two years after the abduction of 219 school girls from Government Girls Secondary School, yesterday gave insight into how parents of the abducted girls contributed money to mobilize motorcyclists to go after the insurgents in an attempt to rescue the girls.
While recalling the sad event, the people declared that they would not appreciate the efforts of the military in the fight against insurgency, until the abducted schoolgirls were rescued and reintegrated into the society.
Speaking through their District Head, Zanna Modu Usman, parents, traditional rulers and the entire residents of Chibok said they were not concerned about reported successes against the insurgents in the North East until their children were rescued.
The traditional ruler, who was represented by the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai El-kanemi spoke at the commemoration of the Second Anniversary of the Chibok missing schoolgirls organized by Women Peace and Security Network, WPSN, in Maiduguri.
He recalled with dismay that a day after the insurgents abducted the girls, no security measure was taken to rescue them, saying “Parents of the affected victims had to donate N500 each to mobilize motorcyclists who made an attempt to trail the insurgents into the Sambisa forest but they were advised by Fulani herdsmen to go back because the place they were heading to was a dead zone.
”Unfortunately, they had to return to Chibok frustrated as they were not armed. It is unfortunate, pitiful and disheartening that since two years ago when insurgents stormed Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok and abducted over 200 innocent schoolgirls, government and the security agencies are yet to live up to their expectations. No amount of government delegations or visits to Chibok, or assistance will cushion the trauma of parents and relatives of the abducted girls.
”Statistics have shown that in less than four weeks of this year, over 11,000 women and children abducted by the sect were rescued by the military forces. Unless the 219 schoolgirls are released or rescued, parents and people in Chibok who share same culture and tradition and intermarry among themselves would never understand the superiority of the military over the Boko Haram sect as claimed in some quarters.”
Earlier , the Convener of WPSN in the state, Mrs. Agnes Uliam Bashir said, the people of the state and indeed the north east had experienced, endured and still suffering from the unwarranted violations of women and girls as a result of the insurgency that had caused unimaginable human and material destruction. Vanguard
