Borno women dare abductors, heads to Sambisa forest

From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

Borno state Coalition for Women’s right group yesterday expressed willingness to mobilise thousands of women to embark on a voluntary search and rescue mission into the notorious Sambisa forest, to ensure the release of the abducted students of Government Girls Secondary School Chibok.

The women, under the auspices of BAOBAB Women’s Right, said they were ready to storm the major hide-out of the Boko Haram insurgents in Sambisa forest, where the abducted girls were believed to have being held hostage10 days ago.

Spokesperson for the group, Prof. Hauwa Abdu Biu, who briefed newsmen over the issue, said they resolved to embark on the expedition when it was evident that no reasonable progress is being achieved in the rescue of the kidnapped girls.

“We are ready to go into the forest and search for the girls, in fact we are prepared to risk our lives and reach upto to Boko Haram camp and the appeal to them to to release the children to us so that they can re-unite with their parents, Prof. Hauwa declared.

“There is nothing extra- ordinary in our quest to enter the dangerous forest, we learnt that some men in Chibok had earlier embarked on such mission, which later turned out to be fruitless.

We felt that as mothers, we are in a better position to have the sympathy and concern over the fate of the missing girls. All we are after was to see to the successeful release of the girls unhurt”, she further added.

The group urged security forces to expidite more action in their search and rescue mission of the students so that their parents can have a rest of mind.

She described the abduction of the school girls as inhuman, abuse of hunan right, capable of scuttling efforts for enhanced girl-child education in the state and the country at large.

She said: “The abduction of the innocent girls violates their human rights, crime against humanity and prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Women in Borno strongly condemns this act in its totality as it deprives children their right to learn in a safe environment, thereby jeopardising their future”.