- Charge FG to bring back girls alive
- Four more girls escape from captivity
- Jonathan, Mark, senators meet
By Ikechukwu Okaforadi & Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri
About 200 women yesterday defied the rains and thronged the National Assembly complex to protest the continued hostage of 234 schools girls of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, by Boko Haram insurgents.
This is coming as President Goodluck Jonathan and a special Senate delegation comprising twenty three senators led by the Senate President, David Mark, met yesterday night in the Presidential villa to discuss the increasing insecurity in Nigeria, which has culminated in the abduction of Chibok school girls.
The women, who were accompanied in the protest by their husbands, pleaded with the concerned authorities to do everything possible to get the girls released alive.
The rain-drenched women, most of whom were wailing uncontrollably, urged the Government to employ all that is needed to rescue the girls.
One of the leaders of the women, and former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, said the situation has become intolerable, saying that nothing should be left to chance to save these children.
She reminded the government at all levels of the primary goals including the welfare and security of citizens.
Addressing the protesters, Senator Mark said “our hearts is with you at this critical moment. The Senators and members of the House of Representatives wept over this abduction. We have reached an unbearable stage; we can no longer tolerate this.
“We are drenched; totally soaked in the rain. It is better to be beaten by the rain and get our children freed from their captors. If it means standing in the rain until the girls are freed, we are prepared to do so.
“We are lost for words. We can only apologize that it is taking this long to get these girls released. We are not going to rest until the last of the girls is freed. All the security apparatus, all of us must get involved in this battle. There is no mistaken the fact that we are in a state of war. With God on our side, we shall triumph over evil”, he assured.
Meanwhile, additional four of the over 200 abducted students in the custody of Boko Haram insurgents, yesterday escaped from their captors in a desert in Monguno local Government area of the state.
This now brings to 48 the number of girls who have escaped out of the 234 abducted.
Credible source who declined identification, disclosed this to newsmen in Maiduguri, saying the girls were rescued by some good Samaritans in a village near Monguno council area last Sunday before they were handed over to security operatives in Maiduguri, the state capital.
Similarly, Minister of Interior, Abba Moro confirmed this while speaking in a BBC Hausa report monitored in Maiduguri, saying the escapees were hale and hearty.
According to Moro, the girls are now in the custody of security forces and that they will be handed over to their parents.
“Information reaching me from the area indicates that four more girls escaped from captivity and they are healthy, security forces are presently trying to identify their parents so that they can receive them”, he said.
However, the source said the four abducted school girls who were smuggled out of Sambisa forest en route Monguno were rescued by villagers.
“In fact, the girls, who looked traumatized and frustrated, were sighted around the outskirts of Monguno. Only one of them managed to talk as she said, they were students writing their final year exams in Chibok but were kidnapped by unknown gunmen.
She said that when four of them developed serious illnesses while conveying them to unknown destination, they were later abandoned by their captors in the bush, before being rescued by some villagers”, the source said.
When newsmen sought reaction of the Caretaker Chairman of Chibok Local Government Area, Mr. Ba’ana Lawan, he said: “Yes, I also heard that four of the abducted school girls have been rescued in Monguno before handing them over to the security operatives. I was told that they are currently receiving treatment at one of the hospitals in Maiduguri due to the condition they found themselves.
I quickly rushed to the hospital to verify such important information, but I was disappointed as I was not allowed to see or know the whereabouts of the girls by security men and the hospital authorities”.
Meanwhile, it was gathered by our correspondent that the special Senate delegation meeting with the President would dwell on how to rescue the abducted girls and how to take a decisive action against the insecurity in the country, which has become persistent.
Though the meeting was slated for 10 pm last night, the outcome and resolutions of the meeting was not known at the time of filing this report.
In the same vein, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, has said the military was avoiding the use of heavy power attacks on the abductors of school girls in Chibok, Borno, for the sake of the girls’ safety.
He, however, assured that the military would free the girls.
Badeh made the remark when the Board and Management of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, paid a visit to the Defence Headquarters in Abuja yesterday.
He condemned the activities of the insurgents in the north, saying “what is happening in the northern Nigeria is pure madness.”
Similarly, the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, has assured that the federal government will do whatever it takes to rescue the abducted students.
Moro stated the government’s commitment yesterday while in audience with the United Kingdom (U.K) head of delegation and Co-chair, Mr. Hugh Ind.
“The government is worried about this issue of terrorism that resulted in the kidnapping of secondary school girls. We know what the parents are passing through and we will do whatever it takes to bring them home,” he assured.
