TheCable

The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) Group says it expected more from President Muhammadu Buhari than the lack of intelligence and other excuses that have been made so far.

In a statement on Friday, the group urged the president and other stakeholders to do more towards rescuing the abducted girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok.

“The BBOG family in Nigeria has engaged on a continuous basis various stakeholders including state governors; the previous chief of defense staff & national security adviser; various UN agencies; ambassadors of our neighbouring countries and met twice with President Muhammadu Buhari on this matter.

“Sincerely, we had expected more and will continue to demand more from government than the rhetorics of lack of intelligence and other excuses,” the group said.

The group chronicled the journey so far, from the abduction on April 14, 2014, to protests in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Abuja, Enugu, Ekiti, London, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Paris, Germany and Nairobi to name a few.

“This Thursday, April 14, 2016, will mark exactly two years of their unfortunate sojourn in captivity! How much longer must we wait before they are rescued?

“As concerned stakeholders and citizens of this country, the Bring-Back-Our-Girls (BBOG) advocacy group has highlighted the plight of these innocent girls even at a global level and engaged the government and other agencies in a constructive manner to secure the rescue of the girls.

“Our advocacy methodology include a daily sit-out in Abuja, weekly sit-outs in Lagos, Oshogbo, and Ibadan; visits to relevant stakeholders and development of tools like the Citizens’ Solutions to End Terrorism and the Verification, Authentication and Reunification System (VARS).”

The group commended the army for rescuing some women and girls, but said the girls are still missing and must be found.

“No doubt you have heard from the media that thousands of abducted women and girls have been rescued by our military.

“Unfortunately, the Chibok girls are not among the rescued. For the families and loved ones of the Chibok Girls, it has been painful two years of deep sorrow, uncertainty, fear and heartache that words cannot describe.

“We are aware that the Chibok girls are not the only victims of the insurgency in the north- east. Nigerians were kidnapped before them and more have been kidnapped after them.

“However, for the Chibok girls, we know their names, we have their pictures and we have met their parents. We will continue to use them as symbol for the ongoing crisis because we believe that whatever machinery is deployed to rescue them will help other Nigerians.

“As President Buhari noted in his inaugural address to the Nigerian people, ‘we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.’”

Describing the situation in the north-east as the worst humanitarian crisis since the Nigerian civil war, the group says “in consonance with the Global week of action, has planned two major activities for this period”.

“First is a state-wide special prayer session and inter-faith vigil on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at Falomo Roundabout, Ikoyi by 4.00pm.

Second is a peaceful walk from Obafemi Awolowo roundabout, Ikeja from 9am and an audience with Governor Ambode at 12noon on Thursday, April 14, 2016.”

“Organizing the vigil and special prayer sessions is our own way of showing the affected families that they are not alone, that we share their pain, and that we will continue to stand by them until our girls return.

“We are also using this opportunity to cry out once again to our authorities: ‘Nigerian leaders, BringBackOurGirls Now and Alive!’”

The statement was signed by Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Aisha Oyebode, Ayo Obe, Habiba Balogun, Yemi Adamolekun, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Ngozi Iwere, Olalere Babasola, and Adwoa Edun.