File Photo
EDITOR’S PICK
EKO HOT BLOG reports that on the night of 14 — 15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged between 16 and 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria.
Fifty-seven of the schoolgirls were said to have escaped immediately by jumping from the trucks in which they are being transported while others have been rescued by security forces on various occasions.
However, as of April last year, over 100 schoolgirls still remain missing with the Chibok Community pegging the number of missing schoolgirls at 110 earlier this year.
Some parents of missing Chibok schoolgirls have expressed frustration and anguish over what they described as 8 years of sorrow and pain.
“They have more than of these girls, just like the way they did at Dapchi, Zamfara, Kastina and Kaduna state they please do whatever they can to return our children. Is it a crime for us to send our children to school? We need our daughters alive and safe.”
“I am waiting on God to help me, this is eight years today since my daughter Rose Daniel was kidnapped, it has been 8 years of agony and pain, no days will pass in these 8 years without thinking of my daughter. I believe in God alone because promised have failed us,” one of the parents, Rachel Daniel told Daily Trust amid tears.
Similarly, Spokesman for the Parents of Chibokgirls Association, Alanson Ayuba, accused the federal government of making empty promises on the return of the Chibok girls.
He berated the government over the claim that the Boko Haram insurgents who kidnapped and married off their children surrendered without the girls.
“Our simple question to the Buhari government is where are our daughters? Because thousands of the perpetrators of this evil act are now surrendering without our daughters, where are our children, where did they keep them? Where is Leah? All these questions are begging for an answer.
“Let every one of them know that they are going to give an account of all action and inaction, as we speak 110 Chibok girls are still missing. We are tired of empty promises, we are tired of their propaganda and we are tired of their lies.
“We demand the the the the the the immediate release of our daughters, many of their parents have died because of these girls, some are critically ill due to whereabouts of their daughters. Government should do the needful by ensuring that all remaining 110 girls and Leah Shaibu are releases,” Ayuba said.
Co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign, Aisha Oyebode-Muhammed, chided the Federal Government for its silence of the eighth year anniversary of the missing Chibok girls.
“Eight years today, about 100 of the girls are yet to get freedom with no further clue from appropriate quarters on the development.
“It is from this background that I want to urge all to use your votes wisely in the next elections.
“I remain saddened that despite all our collective actions, and that of the many other families affected by his brutal insurgency, your daughters remain absent,” the activist added in a letter to parents of the missing schoolgirls.
Amnesty International has berated the Federal Government for failing to protect vulnerable schoolchildren.
AI’s Nigeria Director, Osai Ojigho, in a statement released in commemoration of the mass abduction of Chibok schoolgirls in 2014, said “by refusing to respond to alerts of impending attacks on schools across the north of the country, the Nigerian authorities have failed to prevent mass abductions of thousands of school children.
“In all cases, the Nigerian authorities have remained shockingly unwilling to investigate these attacks or to ensure that the perpetrators of these callous crimes face justice.
“Every fresh attack is followed by further abductions that deprive school children of their right to liberty – and leave victims’ families with no hope of accessing justice, truth or reparations.
“The Nigerian authorities must take concrete steps to prevent the abduction of children and ensure that those suspected of criminal responsibility face justice in fair trials and rescue the hundreds of children who remain in captivity.”
The United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) also regretted that the invisible harm school attacks inflict on victims’ mental health is incalculable and irredeemable
UNICEF representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, noted that the spate of attacks on schools have become recurrent in the last two years, especially in North-Central and North-West regions of the country.
FURTHER READING
Hawkins said: “Unsafe schools, occasioned by attacks on schools and abduction of students, are reprehensible, a brutal violation of the rights of the victims to education, and totally unacceptable. Their occurrences cut short the futures and dreams of the affected students.
“Attacks on learning institutions render the learning environment insecure and discourage parents and caregivers from sending their wards to schools, while the learners themselves become fearful of the legitimate pursuit of learning.”
UNICEF called on the Federal government of Nigeria to make schools safe and provide a secure learning environment for every child especially for girls, to increase their’ enrolment, retention, and completion of education.
Click to watch our video of the week
Veteran Nollywood Actor Reacts to Death Rumour Content Creators Made Quadri 's Death Rumour Go…
The Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) has assured residents of its readiness to manage the…
The Epe Club, a premier social and development association in Epe Division, marked its…