Nine years after the abduction that shook the world on 14 April 2014, 98 of the 276 students kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, are still in captivity.
Following the abduction, a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili; a former Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman and an activist, Aisha Yesufu, among others, on Friday, championed a series of peaceful protests for years with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls to put pressure on the government on the plight of the girls.
25 girls slipped from the grip of their abductors on the day of the attack, the first set of girls were rescued in 2016 when Amina Ali was found by vigilantes around Sambisa Forest. Maryam Ali Maiyanga escaped with her Boko Haram husband and their baby, Ali, followed by two others who escaped individually.
After that, the federal government facilitated the release of 21 more girls following a negotiation brokered by the International Red Cross. Another set of 82 girls were released by the insurgents in 2017.
So far, 178 of the girls made their way home, but many of them suffered serious violations as they returned home traumatised, some with children fathered by Boko Haram terrorists.
Some of the freed girls were then enrolled in a foundation programme at the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola under a federal government scholarship while others were sponsored by foreign donors.
In May 2022, one of the girls, Lydia Pogu bagged a Master’s Degree in Human Services Administration from Southeastern University, United States of America.
In Pogu’s speech which she presented on behalf of the graduating class of 2022, she said she never thought she would have an opportunity to go back to school after the threats issued to her by members of the Boko Haram sect.
The chairman of the Chibok Parents Association, Yakubu Nkenki, said out of the 107 girls admitted into the programme, 84 had progressed into the university section; while 23 dropped out. He added that some of those in school got married and sought for deferment to have time for their newborn babies.
While appealing to the federal government to seek the release of the remaining girls who were still in captivity, he also stressed the need to assist those who dropped out of the American University by assisting them to start some businesses to support themselves and their children.
He said while the parents appreciated the efforts made by the government, they relied on a statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari that the girls had left the darkness behind and his government would make life easy for them, calling on the president to help them cater for the children they bore in captivity.
Nkenki said that freed Chibok girls faced stigmatisation in their communities, noting how on three occasions, he had reported bullies to the police in Chibok town and had them detained for addressing the girls as Boko Haram.
In a related story, Mrs Asabe Kwambura, who was the Principal of GSS Chibok at the time of the abduction told the Daily Trust in a telephone interview yesterday that she was yet to recover from the shock.
She said they have been praying in the last nine years for God to touch the hearts of the abductors to see reason and release their daughters.
According to reports, some of the parents have died while awaiting the return of their daughters while others have developed health complications because of trauma.
In a statement yesterday, Isa Sanusi, Acting Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, said that parents of the 98 Chibok school girls who are still being held by Boko Haram — as well as other children abducted by gunmen — are living in anguish, knowing that their children are in the hands of ruthless individuals who subject their loved ones to chilling brutalities.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that the Buhari administration was not giving up on the return of the remaining girls till its last day in office.
He said that on its last day in office, the Buhari administration is not giving up on the return of the remaining girls.
