Publish Names Of Abducted School Girls....Kema Chikwe

The women’s wing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday asked the authorities of the Government  Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, to release the names and pictures of the 234 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram members two weeks ago.

It also warned against politicising the insurgency in the North-east, stressing that concerted efforts to defeat the terrorists. In a swift reaction to the request, the Borno State Government, which castigated the PDP women over their request, said it was ready to publish the names and photographs of the abductees if the Defence Headquarters should give the go-ahead.

The women, comprising  Christians and Muslims, held an inter-faith session yesterday in Abuja to pray for peace in Nigeria. The Chairman of the prayer session, Senator Helen Esuene, frowned on the abduction of 234 schoolgirls by the insurgents, stressing that Nigeria needs divine intervention to secure their release.

National Women Leader of the PDP, Dr. Kema Chikwe, explained that the mood of the nation calls for sober reflection by every Nigerian.

She said: “Notwithstanding, we are still facing the frightening problem of Boko Haram, a monster that has taken the lives of so many innocent Nigerians. We face the unrelenting menace of kidnapping. Armed robbery has become more overwhelming. There is no newspaper that does not carry news of rape, even of babies. There is hypocrisy about corruption among individual Nigerians.

“The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls. There are many questions to be asked and many more to be answered. How did it happen? Who saw it happen? Who did not see it happen? Who is behind this? Those behind these crimes love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

“For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light  lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light  that it may be clearly seen; that his deeds have been wrought in God. Let God’s light shine on our great country, Nigeria and reveal the perpetrators of darkness.
“Today, we will pray for miraculous revelations and solutions to this issue. We have convened this prayer session to bare our hearts open to God as Christians and Muslims. We shall make a way in our hearts for God to come in and settle, as we are contact points of our party members and all Nigerian women.” 

The women also prayed for the quick recovery of victims of the Nyanya bomb blast and for the healing of the country.

However, reacting to the challenge threw by the PDP women, the Borno State Government said it was ready to publish the names and pictures of the abductees, if approved by the Defence Headquarters.
Special Adviser (Media) to the governor, Mr. Isa Gusau, in a statement last night, expressed shock at the request of the PDP women.

He  said: “We have read with very rude shock, media reports attributed to the National Women Leader of the PDP, raising doubts on whether indeed, schoolgirls were abducted at the Government  Secondary School, Chibok on April 14, 2014 or not. This is a clear case of bringing politics into a serious national issue that borders on the lives of over 200 schoolgirls which is highly unfortunate.

“We find that report a big affront that undermines the National Security Council which held a meeting that dwelled extensively on the matter with a directive to the armed forces to rescue the girls.  By her remark, Chikwe has undermined the integrity of all of Nigeria’s security forces because her questions appear to mean that the security agencies in the country do not know what they are doing for holding a National Security Council meeting and deliberating on something that was doubtful and yet giving directives to address it. This incident happened 17 days ago, every Nigeria expects that by now, the security agencies must have been carrying out investigations that might have included debriefing some of the girls that escaped from captivity, speaking with parents and other students of the schools.”

According to him, unlike the PDP’s attempt to undermine the integrity of the security agencies,  President  Goodluck Jonathan couldn’t have hosted an expanded meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the abduction if the incident had not taken place.

He added that contrary to the attempt of the PDP women’s wing to cast doubt on the incident, other stakeholders had in their commitment to ensure the freedom of the pupils, done enough to show that the reported kidnapping of the schoolgirls was not a fraud.

“The school was virtually razed now, security agencies know this and they know that the attack and abduction took place. The Defence Headquarters has  issued several statements, including one that says forces were closing in on the abductors. We therefore wonder why Kema Chikwe should make mockery of all of these patriotic efforts. Governor Kashim Shettima had visited that school some days ago, he was escorted by security forces that all witnessed how parents made complaints, pictures of the parents and some of the rescued girls were all over the media.

The NTA also showed live pictures. Even though most of the school buildings were razed during that attack and property vandalised, records of schoolgirls that registered for the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) exams cannot be a difficult one to get since the examination bodies are there with the records. In addition to that, parents lodged complaints that should naturally have the names of their children or wards. It is expectedly thought that security agencies would by now have necessary information about these girls which might include their records. However, the Borno State Government has a comprehensive data that includes pictures of the missing students and those that returned, which the government is ready to publish on Friday, May 2, 2014 if the Defence Headquarters which has since been managing information on counter insurgency operations in the North-east, gives the go-ahead and Mrs. Kema Chikwe, who now knows more than the security can ensure that,”  it added.

It however expressed the fear that publishing details about the abducted schoolgirls  would further endanger their lives as it would  reveal their religion and family backgrounds and this could provide basis for their families to be reached with demands for ransom or the government could be accused of undermining rescue efforts.

“In addition to these, abduction of girls is sometimes interpreted to mean automatic rape, where the identities of these are revealed, they could be stigmatised even after being rescued.
Doubt raised by Mrs. Kema Chikwe displays insensitivity to the plight of parents of these girls and to the feelings of all Borno people.

The Borno State Government is the most troubled by the incident. The governor of Borno State is as should be expected, under so much pressure from families and community members of Chibok and indeed the rest of the state.

These girls are daughters of Borno, by being abducted while in school, the Borno State Government naturally comes under more pressure because they were abducted while being under our care as a government, the school was not the only one in session when that attack took place, there were other schools were girls were writing exams.

“It is important that the Nigerian security agencies call Mrs. Kema Chikwe to order so she can desist from mocking the National Security Council and misleading Nigerians and the rest of the world that have been attracted by this unfortunate incident which has left the government and people of Borno State highly distressed,” the statement said.