TheCable

There were tears aplenty on Thursday when the freed Chibok schoolgirls met with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife at the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja.

With President Muhammadu Buhari away on an official trip to Germany, the girls, 21 in number, met with Osinbajo and other state officials such as Lawal Daura, director-general of the DSS; Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture; Aisah Alhassan, minister of women affairs; Zaynam Ahmed, minister of state, budget and national planning; and Maryam Uwais, special adviser to the president on social protection plan.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Osinbajo said the federal government would use the rescue of the 21 girls as template for the securing the freedom of other sin captivity.

“We must be sensitive to the fact that the government wants these girls back and alive. Again, we must balance this against the security and safety of the country,” he said.

“In the process of negotiation, we will look at all options and we will weigh the options carefully and decide what to do.

“We believe that in the next few days and months, we will be bringing in more of these girls using exactly the same kind of negotiation and the same template that we used.”

Osinbajo also said of the 21 girls, only one had a baby.

“About an hour ago, I met with the 21 Chibok girls who have been brought back and they are in good health, considering the circumstances they have been held in and they are now being well taken care of in a medical facility,” he said.

“They will be staying there for sometime until we are satisfied about their health. Their parents will be coming to join them, hopefully by tomorrow.

“There will be therapy, there will be counselling. Of course, we can imagine what they have gone through. So, we expect that a lot of psychological therapy and so much needs to be done to get them back.”