TheCable

The Chibok Parents’ Association says former President Goodluck Jonathan did not rescue any of their abducted girls as claimed by Reuben Abati, his former aide.

Daily Trust reports that Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of the association, said the claim could only make sense if the Jonathan administration kept the supposedly rescued girls away from their parents.

Abati had said the former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, advised Jonathan against publicising the release so as not to reveal the girls’ identities.

“There was headway. We rescued many of the girls but the advice from the NSA at the time was that we should not publicise it because of the identities of those girls. I witnessed it on many occasions. Those girls were brought to the president,” he said on Arise TV.

Commenting on the development, Nkeki said: “Does he mean they rescued some of the Chibok girls and are keeping them somewhere? If that is what he means, then they should immediately release the girls to us.

“What we know is that the Buhari regime negotiated for and secured the release of all the girls we have with us now. Soon after their release, I was called to Abuja to identify them. These girls are currently at the American University of Nigeria, Yola under federal government’s full scholarship.”

Florence Ozor, chair, #Bring Back Our Girls strategic team, said the group is not aware of such a development.

“All we know is the number of girls that have been released under Buhari administration and we are not aware of this development,” she said.

“I really don’t understand what the motive would be. How would you secure children from terrorists and the parents and the nation are not aware and you just sent them abroad? There is more to what they are telling us. It will be good if they can make it public because the parents and the nation need to know.”

At present, 107 girls have been released with 112 still in captivity.