Almost
two years after their abduction, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday ordered
a fresh investigation into the case of the 219 schoolgirls seized from
Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
This
was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President
on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu.
He
quoted the President as announcing this while meeting parents of the abducted
girls, representatives of the Chibok community and members of the Bring Back
Our Girls movement at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The girls were kidnapped on the night of April 14, 2014 during the
administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Jonathan had in the wake of the abduction set up a 26-member
fact-finding committee led by Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Sabo (retd.), to investigate
the matter.
Shehu, however, said the Buhari panel that would investigate
the incident would soon be named by the National Security Adviser, Babagana
Munguno.
“The investigation will seek to, among other things, unravel
the remote and immediate circumstances leading to the kidnap of the girls by
Boko Haram terrorists as well as the other events, actions and inactions that
followed the incident,” the statement read.
Shehu added that the President assured parents of the Chibok
girls that he had been doing his best and would continue to do everything
possible to rescue them and re-unite them with their families.
He further quoted Buhari as saying that he remained fully
committed to his pledge to do all within his powers to save the girls.
Buhari was quoted as saying, “I assure you that I go to bed
and wake up every day with the Chibok girls on my mind.
“The unfortunate incident happened before this government
came into being.
“What have we done since we assumed office? We re-organised
the military, removed all the service chiefs and ordered the succeeding service
chiefs to deal decisively with the Boko Haram insurgency.
“In spite of the terrible economic condition we found ourselves
in, we tried to get some resources to give to the military to reorganise and
equip, retrain, deploy more troops and move more forcefully against Boko Haram.
“And you all know the progress we have made. When we came in
Boko Haram was in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states. Boko Haram has now been
reduced to areas around Lake Chad.
“Securing the Chibok girls is my responsibility. The service
chiefs and heads of our security agencies will tell you that in spite of the
dire financial strain we found the country in, I continue to do my best to
support their efforts in that regard.
“This is a Nigeria where we were exporting an average of two
million barrels per day at over $140 per barrel. Now it is down to about $27 to
$30.
“You have been reading in the press how they took public
funds, our funds, your funds and shared it, instead of buying weapons. That was
the kind of leadership I succeeded. That was the kind of economy I inherited.
“God knows I have done my best and I will continue to do my
best.”
Shehu also quoted the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel
Olonisakin, as saying that in the last three months, the military had liberated
more than 3,000 people kidnapped by Boko Haram in the north-eastern part of the
country.
He said that the military had the ability to rescue the
Chibok girls, but added that “intelligence is delicate and we don’t want to do
anything to jeopardise the lives of the girls.”
Earlier, the Leader of the campaigners, Mrs. Oby Ezkwesili,
had told reporters that the President told them that he had no credible
information on the current location of the abducted girls.
Going forward, the former minister of education said her
group would continue to demand for the action that is necessary to rescue the
girls.
A drama had played out in the morning when the campaigners
arrived the Presidential Villa and realised that Buhari was not scheduled to
meet them as expected.
Rather, the President had sent a government delegation led by
the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Al-Hassan, to receive the protesters on
his behalf at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa because he was
hosting the visiting President of Benin Republic, Boni Yayi..
Al-Hassan had set the tone of the meeting when she said the
government delegation would first listen to representatives of the BBOG and the
girls’ parents before she and other members of her team would respond
appropriately.
But the highly infuriated Ezekwesili told the government
delegation that comprised the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Alli; National
Security Adviser, Babagana Mongunu; and the Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi
Olonishakin, that they would not speak to any other person apart from the
President.
“We had a meeting with the President on July 8 (2015) and he
made some promises. We are here to listen to him. We are going to wait until he
is ready to see us,” she said.
The leader of the parents also said the same thing when he
was called to address the government officials.
When all efforts made to pacify the delegation did not yield
any positive result, the government delegation sent a message to the President.
Immediately Yayi left, the President changed his mind and
decided to meet the protesters personally. The message was thereafter passed to
the protesters.
On his arrival at about 1.47pm, journalists were asked to
leave the venue to allow the President speak and listen to the campaigners.
He left the venue about an hour later.
Meanwhile, before the President resolved to meet the
protesters, Ezekwesili had had a confrontation with the minister of women
affairs whom she accused of not being fair to the parents of the abducted girls
with the way she spoke to them.
She said the minister was busy chiding the already
traumatised parents in her choice of words.
This, she observed, was unlike the minister of defence, NSA
and the CDS whose tones, she said, connected with the parents.
FOR MORE STORIES VISIT
CKN NEWS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:
Twitter: @CKNNigeria
Facebook: CKNNigeria
CKN NEWS Hotline:
08080054001
Whatsapp: 08099677755
BBM : 2BE329DF
Website: www.cknnigeria.com
Tags
Society