Bakare flays leaders for politicising Chibok girls’ abduction

The General Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has lampooned politicians and political parties for using the abduction of 219 Chibok schoolgirls to score cheap political points.

Tunde Bakare

He noted that the nation had not given the issue the necessary thoughtfulness and seriousness it deserved, stressing that those who are in a position to act have not taken sufficient action towards addressing it or even towards calming the anxiety of the waiting Chibok parents.

The cleric said this in a sermon on Sunday during the thanksgiving service to mark the global action week in commemoration of the second anniversary of the abduction of the schoolgirls organised by the BringBackOurGirls coalition at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.

Bakare stated that the girls would have been rescued if they were children of the political and religious elite and appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritise their  rescue in the midst of the numerous challenges before him. He stressed that the girls had become the symbols of the soul of the nation.

He said, “What do you think I would have done extra if my girl was involved? Have I done those things? What could  have happened, if these were daughters of Emirs or the Prelate or Primate of the Anglican Church or Methodist Church? If any of them happen to be son of Pastor Adeboye not to mention sons or daughters of governors or president, what do you think would have happened on that issue?

“Am just asking a question, what do you think would have happened? We would have done more than we have done, the whole nation has failed these children and we must repent and that is why we must honour those of you (BBOG) who have made it to be on the front burner.”

Reading Isaiah 49:24-26 from the Holy Bible, Bakare urged the BBOG and the Chibok parents not to give up, saying the girls would be rescued alive from Boko Haram captivity.

He recalled that the past administration failed to act on ‘actionable intelligence’ that could have led to the rescue of the girls, noting that the government did not take the necessary steps to rescue them until there was a global outcry.

Bakare said, “It is most severely injurious to see that the fate of our daughters has been frequently politicised. Rather than rise to the occasion as stakeholders and custodians of the security and welfare of the citizens of this nation, political parties and politicians have paid lip service, using our pain and the plight of our daughters to score cheap political points.

“We are not convinced that the matter of our daughters has been given the needed thoughtfulness. We do not believe that those who are in a position to act have taken sufficient action towards addressing this issue or even towards calming our anxiety as waiting parents.”

The fiery cleric who spoke in an emotion-laden voice for about 35 minutes, expressed the conviction that the abducted girls were alive and could still be rescued, noting that there was no evidence, not even satellite photography, suggesting that they were in a mass grave.

“We have heard varied suggestions as to the fate of our girls. We have heard that some have been married off, that some have been sold as slaves, and that some are being held captive as human shields. We have heard that some have been radicalised, and there have been suggestions that they are now being groomed and deployed as suicide bombers.  What we expect the government to do is to systematically analyse the possibilities with a view to eliminating impossibilities,” Bakare suggested.

The Convener, Save Nigeria Group, appreciated the government for the renewed military offensive and the gains recorded in the fight against Boko Haram, but added that the nation expected that the success would be translated into tracing the whereabouts of the girls or even finding some measure of closure for their parents.

“If they have been sold as slaves, to whom have they been sold? What are the locations of these slave buyers or dealers? Are they in the territories in which our girls had been held captive in the past? What attempts have been made to investigate or eliminate this possibility? Have they been sold beyond the Nigerian borders? What routes are there through which they could possibly have been taken?,” he asked.

Given the complex security nature of the abduction, Bakare noted that  rescuing the girls might require special tactical military operations, details of which could not be publicly discussed.

This, he added, should not stop the government from creating a confidential information channel that would keep anxious parents abreast of the basic facts and show that, at least, the country cared for their daughters.

Bakare flays leaders for politicising Chibok girls’ abduction

Boko Haram: Buhari vows to find missing Chibok girls

ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday, said his administration would do everything within its power to ensure the safe return of the over 200 missing Chibok ‎girls.

General Buhari

The girls were in April 2014, abducted from the Federal Government Secondary school, Chibok, Borno State, by members of the Boko Haram terrorist sect.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, who spoke when the BringBackOurGirls campaign movement visited his office in Abuja yesterday, described the abduction of the girls as “tormenting and psychologically traumatising” for the nation‎.

He said: “It is tragic for a nation to have a budget meant for arms procurement for the protection of lives and property of the citizens, and end up not having the arms but compromising the process of making adequate provisions for the protection of lives of its citizens.

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has demonstrated sufficient skill and commitment to the protection of lives and property within the shortest practicable time of coming into existence, it has recorded tremendous success including confronting Sambisa forest head-on with the hope rescuing the Chik girls.”

Boko Haram: Buhari vows to find missing Chibok girls

Buhari"s refusal to implement confab reports fueling Biafra protest - Okurounmu

The Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on the National Conference, Senator Femi Okurounmu, says the pro-Biafran agitations probably started due to the failure of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to implement the resolutions of the National Conference.

Senator Femi Okurounmu

He told our correspondent during an interview on Wednesday that the conference endorsed fiscal autonomy and the devolution of powers from the centre to the federating states.

Okurounmu, however, noted that Buhari’s body language, including his penchant for making too many northern appointments, had made some other parts of the country, especially the South-East, feel unwanted.

He, therefore, urged the President to have a rethink on the issue.

He said, “The National Conference had foreseen this agitation and that was why we agreed that there would be certain autonomy of the federating units.

“The problems of Nigeria lie on the issues of devolution of power and that of resource allocation. These were the problems that we set out to address but President Buhari threw away these resolutions.

“He is giving most of the appointments to the North; the same people who fought against resource control. Eighty per cent of his appointees – who are not ministers – are from the North. Why wouldn’t other parts of the country feel left out?”

When asked to comment on Buhari’s ministerial appointments which favoured the South-West, Okurounmu said the appointments could be a trap.

He said Buhari had not achieved anything remarkable in his six months in office.

Okurounmu, who represented Ogun-Central senatorial district between 1999 and 2003, said the President had failed to impress Nigerians.

He noted that Buhari, who received widespread support on his promise to fight corruption, had failed to effectively tackle the menace.

The ex-lawmaker said even ardent supporters of the All Progressives Congress were beginning to regret campaigning for Buhari as the problems of fuel scarcity, power failure and insecurity have worsened.

He said, “As you would have observed, there is fuel scarcity and electricity supply is poor. I did not support Buhari so I am not disappointed in him. Even some of his biggest supporters are disappointed but shame will not allow them to admit it. Nigerians are disillusioned with this administration that has achieved nothing in six months.

“He promised to fight corruption but we have not seen anything in the last six months. During his visit to Iran, he said some of those that looted the treasury are already returning the stolen money. Is that how to fight corruption? Is there no punishment for corruption anymore? How does one determine how much was stolen without a proper investigation and judicial processes?

“He has surrounded himself with people like Rotimi Amaechi who have been accused of corruption.”

The former lawmaker said in six months, the Chibok girls had not been found but Nigerians seemed to have forgotten about them.

Okurounmu explained that at the tail end of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Nigeria was winning the war against terrorism. He, however, lamented that Buhari’s administration had seen an increase in the activities of terrorists.

Buhari"s refusal to implement confab reports fueling Biafra protest - Okurounmu

Chibok girls can still be rescued - Shehu Sani

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

The name, Shehu Sani, rings a bell in the global human rights community because of his antecedents as a defender of the less privileged in the society. But, in 2015, the activist decided to throw himself into the political turf and he won election to represent Kaduna Central on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC. But trust him not to be one who will look away if he feels threatened for any reason. Barely three months into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, he has fallen out with his governor, Mallam Nasir El- Rufai (Kaduna State), whom he accuses of running anti-people policies for trying to remove beggars and hawkers from the streets and sanitise the state.

Shehu Sani

In this interview, Sani, who has been involved in negotiations between government and Boko Haram to end bombings in the North- East, raises hope that the 219 Chibok girls abducted by the sect more than 500 days ago may be alive after all, and suggests how the violence could be brought to a peaceful end. Excerpts:

Some have hailed while others criticised Buhari over his first 100 days in office. What is your own assessment?

There is a lot to celebrate within the first 100 days of President Muhammadu Buhari since we are coming from 16 years of waste, corruption, poverty, under-development, lost hope, dashed dreams and misplaced priorities. By all standards, the new government of Muhammadu Buhari has been able to rekindle the hopes of Nigerians and restore their confidence in their country and in governance. Certainly, Nigerians are, once again, proud of their country.

 

Can you specify the areas in which the President has achieved something within the period under review?

Buhari has restored our pride of place in the international community, for them to believe in us once again; he has shown uncommon zeal in his ability and determination to fight corruption; and he has demonstrated by actions and utterances that he is serious in confronting and ending insurgency in the North-East.   He has sent a clear message to all public office holders that Nigeria is in a new era and we can see that he has boosted the morale of the military and has provided an appreciable amount of money and weapons for them to fight insurgents. Apart from that, he has made  changes in the command and control of the military with people who are more determined  and has set a good example in leadership by publicly declaring his assets.

Some of his critics are angry that he declared only one million and even borrowed money to buy nomination form of the APC for the presidential contest last year, only for him to declare N30 million cash this year?

There will always be questions by people. I believe that even for the courage by the President to declare his assets is something noble and should be applauded by all well-meaning Nigerians. He has set a moral standard for all Nigerian public office holders to follow.

 

How are we going to resolve the simmering crisis in the Senate, given that some mistakes were made right from the outset making it difficult for the leadership to receive a warm handshake from the President and the APC leadership?

The matter can  still be resolved despite the mistake made at the beginning. The truth remains that after we had won the election, there was no serious effort to bring all the members of the National Assembly together to chart a course  for an agenda for the party. But by the time it was done, it was already too late because many had already started aligning themselves and seeking their political interest as legislators. It is a very big problem for the party, in the sense that we have a conflict between the standing rules of the NASS and the need for party members to conform to party supremacy. The problem is generic with the party itself. If we are to go back to history, we will see that the APC is a convergence of strange bedfellows, who came into the party with different tendencies, expectations and ideologies. What brought  them together initially was the common need to dislodge the Jonathan administration and to send the PDP out of power. And having achieved that, the hidden conflict in the fold started manifesting and that became evident in the way the leadership emerged.

 

So, what is the way out and do you think that it was right for any APC senator to have ignored the meeting called early on inauguration day by Buhari, the leader of the APC, to participate in the NASS leadership election, if they had any respect for him?

Well, this is what I have been saying; you will see that the leaders came from different backgrounds and those who came from the ‘new PDP’ felt that they should be able to control some levers of power. That is why the Saraki and Dogara factor came into play. It is something like an enemy within.

But how do we get out of it so that the party and the nation can forge ahead peacefully?

The only way out of it is to understand that every revolution comes with some crisis after it has succeeded.   These are the crises that pose a challenge to the party and the stability of the state and government. How the APC is going to navigate out of it will determine its success.

 

Do you support the current jumbo pay for lawmakers as someone who a progressive?

I was part of the committee set up by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to review lawmakers’ pay and we have recommended that the money paid to senators should be reduced. But our recommendation has been stood down until the House of Representatives adopts same. The matter must be sorted out because it is very important to Nigerians. I really support a reduction to make more money available to other sectors.

 

It is on record that all attempts to broker peace between the FG and Boko Haram and end the cycle of violence in the North-East have failed woefully. What went wrong?

A number of things went wrong with past efforts to broker peace between Boko Haram and the Federal Government. First, some  of  the demands made by Boko Haram were such that government was not ready and to concede. The group has always insisted that it was willing to agree to peace provided their members were released by government. But government is not ready to that. That has been the sticking point where all past negotiations have always crashed. So, if government  says it is ready for negotiation, it should also be ready to concede certain things in the interest of peace.

 

But government position seems to be that no person has shown up to claim that he is a leader or representative of Boko Haram and cannot therefore negotiate with a phantom group or individuals to prevent the ugly experiences of the past?

There is no doubt that there have been times the Federal Government actually engaged in discussions with phantom groups and individuals but there are also times where the negotiations were very credible.   In 2011,  I was able to facilitate a dialogue between the group and the Federal Government when I brought in former President Obasanjo to talk to the families of the insurgents and another one, which was with the President of the Supreme Council of Sharia, Dr. Ahmed Datti, where he represented the Boko Haram group, which came out openly to announce him as their representative. We also had the one that was organised by a journalist, Ahmad Salkida, which was very credible. I think Salkida is one credible Nigerian that we need to invite to be able to address the Boko Haram crisis.

 

Is that the one who lives in Dubai?

Yes, we need to bring him in to be able to succeed in ending the problem of insurgency in Nigeria.

 

Why should Nigeria invite him?

Certainly, the man has risked his life in the past to seek solution to the problem of Boko Haram and he is a patriotic Nigerian to the core.

 

But no member of the group has come forward to say he is ready for dialogue with the FG?

Yes, for obvious reasons. Government has merely indicated intent to engage in dialogue but nothing has been done to concretize it. Having made the announcement of intent, government should set up a technical committee, give it a waiver to go through the process of genuine dialogue. The Federal Government should set up a committee and give it the needed waiver to reach out to the insurgents. Don’t forget that, right now, there is an anti-terrorism law that makes it criminal for anybody to communicate or to be seen or identified with the insurgents. But  if a committee is set up and is insulated from the anti-terrorism law, then it can begin to make contacts with the group to bring about peace.

 

Given your roles in the past, why don’t you take up the gauntlet and suggest this directly to government? Are you afraid?

There is nothing like fear but we need legal backing that if we are given permission by the authorities to reach out, then, action will start. But if you are not given permission by government, there is nothing anyone can do because in order to succeed, you need the two sides to agree. You need government to give you the go-ahead to negotiate. You cannot go alone.

 

So, if government gives you the permission, you can do it?

I cannot do it alone; it has to be a team work with others like clerics, elders and people who have something to offer in the process.

How do we get back the lost good life in the North-East?

The first thing to do is to see how to secure the release of the Chibok schoolgirls. Let us categorize this discussion into two. The first one is how do we negotiate and get the girls out?

 

Are you sure they are still alive?

I have the belief they are alive because if they are not, certainly, the group, in their own criminality and violence, would have announced that they had killed them.   Don’t forget they have been very honest in the past in telling the world who they have killed or not.

If the girls are not alive, certainly, we would have known, but they are actually alive and I believe it  is an issue which government needs to thrash out before we go into the final phase of ending insurgency in the North-East.

 

All the reports from the Amnesty International have been highly critical of the Nigerian military handling of human rights in the fight against insurgency, outlining how they kill and maim suspected terrorists and innocent civilians caught along the way. What do you make of such reports as a member of the human rights community?

We should take it that way because the reports are credible and we cannot fight insurgency without carrying the people along.   Nigerian Army, under former President Goodluck Jonathan, had been very brutal and crude. First of all, they passed naked, collective punishment on people, engaged in unnecessary prolonged detention; they virtually abandoned the moral aspect of the fight and the need for them to execute the war against terror within the ambit of democratic norms. So, you cannot continue to perpetrate human rights violations and abuses in the name of fighting terror. Yes, we know very well that terrorists are violent people and have no respect for fundamental rights but I think there is need for restraint in order to protect the rights of innocent persons.

 

Nigeria has a very bad record as far as corruption is concerned. What should be done to change the narrative as someone who has been fighting against the government to instill good governance in Nigeria?

The first thing is to close all the loopholes where corruption thrives in the land. When you have a government that functions and with a mindset to punish the corrupt instead of celebrating them, then corruption will ebb. We should indeed name and shame, arrest and  prosecute those who are corrupt no matter their status as opposed to what we saw in recent past where government actually defended corruption and celebrated thieves.

 

Do you think the Criminal Justice System also impedes the fight against corruption in Nigeria?

There are a lot of loopholes in the fight against corruption. You know that many high profile cases in court are lost once the media loses interest in them. The justice system is one in which cases are unduly prolonged and that gives corrupt people the vent to get out of it. The prison system in Nigeria also encourages the corrupt to live big life instead of facing correctional punishment. So, my advice is that the criminal justice system in Nigeria should be reviewed to cope with the current realities to curtail the effect of corruption.

 

There are reports that you have fallen apart with your governor over some issues. Is it not too early in the day for a quarrel to break out between two of you?

It is my wish that we work together for the betterment of Kaduna State and for our party and Nigeria. But it is the governor that is working against me. I was not his favorite candidate for the Senate but I defeated his candidate in the primary election. But when I won the Senate and he won the governorship election, I came to discover two things.   We have ideological differences. He is from the political right and I am from the political left. He is a core conservative capitalist, who believes in capitalism and I believe in the progressive, welfarist, leftist and idealistic system. So, that is where we differ. Again, after we had won the election and it came sharing positions, he sidelined me and gave power to the man I defeated in the election, who was his preferred choice. By so doing, he has clearly appointed someone who he is grooming to fight me.   Meanwhile, if you are doing this politically and amassing troops and an army close to where I am standing, I don’t want to wait for you to fire the first shot. That is the situation of things.

 

So, what do you really want from him that he has not given?

The governor has taken some steps which are wrong. He banned beggars from the streets but they are back, he banned hawkers but they are back on the streets, he started demolishing houses but was forced to discontinue because the people rose against him and many other anti-people policies. So, if all these things were good, they could have been sustained. Beggars are people you cannot ban in Kaduna because they are a social problem created by the capitalist system in which people like El-Rufai have been living their lives and propagating. More unfortunately, El Rufai gave the beggars no alternatives of where to relocate to or start a new life in his bid to take them off the streets. He has an agenda, which I don’t support. He wants to do away with beggars and the destitute and plant flowers and build amusement parks in Kaduna and that is not the way to solve problems. The governor wants to give a false image of good life and sanity in Kaduna to make it appear that everybody is rich and living comfortably because there are no beggars and hawkers on the streets when, in reality, they have only been pushed out to go and suffer somewhere else.

My position is that they must remain on the street until their issues are addressed. As far as I am concerned, the beggars need to be chasing after us, the rich people, knocking our car windshields and constantly reminding us that things are not well in our land.

Would you say in all honesty that you don’t like amusement parks and serene environments or are you just playing to the gallery for political reasons?

Look, amusement parks and serenity at what cost to the people? When federal allocations are sent to Kaduna, it is not meant for the elite who want to be in amusement parks and gardens but to the people of Kaduna. Now, where is the place for the beggars and hawkers? Do you want to have amusement parks and live a life of comfort and luxury but hiding lepers, beggars, the cripple and the blind who are part and parcel of the society? It is like living in a fool’s paradise and deceiving oneself and I don’t like that.

 

Would it not be more beneficial to the beggars if they are confined to a home where some provisions could be made by government for them on daily basis instead of running in traffic and risking their lives all in a bid to survive?

If the governor had provided anything for the beggars and the destitute, I would not have opposed him and the destitute would not have been back on the streets. Even close to El Rufai’s house, there are beggars there in full force. There are more beggars now on the streets of Kaduna than before. I believe that beggars from other states might have joined their counterparts in Kaduna in solidarity.

 

But in all of this, have you made any effort to explain your own position to the governor?

I don’t have the governor’s telephone number and I don’t think there is anybody in Kaduna, who has the governor’s number apart from people from his kitchen cabinet. But if you ask for my number from even beggars, cripples and hawkers, they all have my number. So, you can see the way I live my life as a man of the people.

 

Don’t you feel that the governor could accuse you of inciting the people against his government to advance your political future, as there are rumours you want to contest the governorship  of Kaduna in 2019?

Well, this is not incitement but a call to order. If I tell him to provide for the poor and the destitute before sending them away from the streets, I am not inciting anyone against him. I need Kaduna to be progressive and peaceful and to be a model for all states. We need to be more realistic and not deceive ourselves.

 

But is there any iota of truth in the claim that you are antagonizing the governor all in a selfish bid to prepare the ground for you to unseat him in 2019 or do you want to remain in the Senate then?

What is of interest to me now is to see how to deliver service to my people. As you know, 2019 is still a long time from now.

 

What would you say is your legislative agenda for Nigeria and your people?

I have an agenda in the Senate to pursue bills and motions that will uplift my people, make Nigeria more united and progressive, and to deliver the programs and agenda of the APC to make Nigeria a more united and stable nation. Back home, I have a constituency project called the Talakawas Grassroots Revolutionary Development Program. It is a people-oriented development project to uplift the living standards of the people of my constituency, give them hope, restore their confidence in their legislator and make impact on their lives.

 

What does it entail?

It is a program that will intervene in education, health, women and youth empowerment, sports, skills acquisition and support for faith-based groups.

 

 

Chibok girls can still be rescued - Shehu Sani

Chibok Girls: Buhari sends message of hope; offers economic support to parents

• 500th day since chibok girls abduction

By Ehi Ekhator, Naija Center News

The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has sent a message of hope to the parents of the more than 200 abducted Chibok girls of the Government Girls Secondary School who were kidnapped by the dreaded Boko Haram in April 2014.

Chibok girls

The message was delivered to the parents through the governor of Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima at a meeting in Maiduguri on Saturday on the occasion of 500th day of the abduction, according to his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mallam Isa Gusau.

The President also assured them that the government will support them in anyways to compensate for the missing girls.

The government offered them trauma management support which according to the President, will help the parents go back to work as it is speculated that the parents no longer go to work or farm since the incident of their missing girls.

Buhari said that he understands the agony they are going through as he is a parent too

He said: “these priceless schoolgirls are our daughters and they are dear to us as much as they are to you. We share the agony and sorrows you are experiencing as well as our abducted girls. As government we are working hard to rescue our girls alive and healthy.

“I am optimistic that the girls are still alive and will soon be rescued and handed over to you parents by the grace of God. As leaders we are responsible for the welfare of our people and are accountable before the Almighty God.

“As such, while the rescue efforts go on relentlessly, the government will continue to render assistance to you as their biological parents. We are aware that most of you the parents cannot attend to your sources of livelihood, go to work, go to farms or carry on with your trading because of the psychological trauma and agony you are going through and this is to be expected.

“It is for this reason, we find it an obligation to support you in trauma management and in offering some economic support and these support are not compensation for your daughters because we have not lost hope in recovering them, indeed no sane parent gives up on the recovery of a missing child.”

“government is fully committed to fight the insurgents to a standstill especially with renewed global and regional military cooperation as well as the commitment so far displayed by the  newly appointed service chiefs and their gallant armed forces who have shown so much patriotism and great sacrifice in defense of their father land.” he added

Meanwhile Buhari had assured Nigerians during Presidential campaign that the former President, Goodluck Jonathan was not doing enough to return the girls back to their parents, therefore promised to rescue the girls as soon as he assume office.

 

 

 

 

Chibok Girls: Buhari sends message of hope; offers economic support to parents

Jonathan’s govt frustrated effort to rescue Chibok girls – Ezekwesili

Former Minister of Education and Co-converner of the #BringBackOurGirls group, Obiageli Ezekwesili, on Thursday said that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was a terrible period in the rescue of the Chibok Girls.

Obiageli Ezekwesili on Al Jazeera

Ezekwesili said that the former president’s administration gave false information that demoralized the advocacy of the group and many Nigerians.

The former minister, who spoke on Kaakaki, a weekly programme on African Independent Television to mark 500 days since the girls were kidnapped from their Secondary school in Chibok, Borno state, added that the parents of the girls never got any information that was credible from the then government.

She said that the group rejoiced when former Chief of Defense Staff announced to Nigerians and the rest of the world that government knew where the girls were being held.

Information, she said, turned out to be ‘decorating information’ by the then government.

She said: “You recall that on May 26, 2014 the then Chief of Defense staff said that they had located the girls that the issue was that they needed strategic maneuver in other to rescue them alive.

“We were rejoicing on the day that that information was given. Subsequently other false information was given to us by the same government and that completely demoralized our advocacy because it suddenly seemed as if the desire was not really focused on credibly finding the girls.

“It was not just the BringBackOurGirls that was demoralized during that period. It was the whole world. The whole world could not understand how come the information concerning the girls just seemed to be massaged in all directions.

“At some point we did a mapping of the various information that was coming out of government. We said to ourselves that we were not going to be an anecdotal movement. We were going to simply keep a focus on monitoring the statements of government, the actions of government so that we could analytically say this is what the trend seems to suggest.

“I am saying to you with every sincere bone in me that it was a terrible period.”

She said that the group has renewed hope that the Chibok girls will be rescued since it met with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ezekwesili said that the 219 girls who answered the call to be educated will not be forgotten.

“219 young women who answered the call to be educated in other to improve their lot in life as well as enhance our own society cannot be abandoned by their nation and fellow citizen. That therefore keeps us hopeful. We are never going to stop hoping. They cannot be forgotten.

“We met with the president on July 8. During that engagement the president reiterated the point that he had in his inaugural address that rescuing the Chibok girls was of priority for the administration and that they would maximize their efforts at rescuing the girls.

“We see that as the constructive engagement that we desired with the government when this situation first arouse we see it now. That is constructive, that is based on a sense that government owes accountability to citizens,” she added.

Jonathan’s govt frustrated effort to rescue Chibok girls – Ezekwesili

Boko Haram Offers To Swap Detainees For Kidnapped Girls

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremists are offering to free more than 200 young women and girls kidnapped from a boarding school in the town of Chibok in exchange for the release of militant leaders held by the government, a human rights activist has told The Associated Press.

The activist said Boko Haram’s current offer is limited to the girls from the school in northeastern Nigeria whose mass abduction in April 2014 ignited worldwide outrage and a campaign to “Bring Back Our Girls” that stretched to the White House.

Chibok girls

The new initiative reopens an offer made last year to the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan to release the 219 students in exchange for 16 Boko Haram detainees, the activist said. The man, who was involved in negotiations with Boko Haram last year and is close to current negotiators, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters on this sensitive issue.

“Another window of opportunity opened” in the last few days, according to Fred Eno, who has been negotiating with Boko Haram for more than a year.

He said he could not discuss details but explained that the recent slew of Boko Haram bloodletting — some 350 people killed in the past nine days — is consistent with past ratcheting up of violence as the militants seek a stronger negotiating position.

Presidential adviser Femi Adesina said on Saturday that Nigeria’s government “will not be averse” to talks with Boko Haram. “Most wars, however furious or vicious, often end around the negotiation table,” he said.

Eno said the 5-week-old administration of President Muhammadu Buhari offers “a clean slate” to bring the militants back to negotiations that had become poisoned by the different security agencies and their advice to Jonathan.

Two months of talks last year led government representatives and Eno to travel in September to a northeastern town where the prisoner exchange was to take place — only to be stymied by the Department for State Service, the activist said.

At the last minute, the intelligence agency said it was holding only four of the militants sought by Boko Haram, he said.

It is not known how many Boko Haram suspects are detained by Nigeria’s intelligence agency, whose chief Buhari fired last week.

The activist said the agency continues to hold suspects illegally because it does not have enough evidence for a conviction, and any court would free them. Nigerian law requires charges be brought after 48 hours.

Thousands of suspects have died in custody, and they might include some on a list from Boko Haram that Eno said he first received exactly one year ago.

Amnesty International alleges that 8,000 detainees have died in military custody — some have been shot, some have died from untreated injuries due to torture, and some have died from starvation and other harsh treatment.

In May, about 300 women, girls and children being held captive by Boko Haram were rescued by Nigeria’s military, but none were from Chibok. It is believed the militants view the Chibok girls as a last-resort bargaining chip.

In that infamous abduction, 274 mostly Christian girls preparing to write science exams were seized from the school by Islamic militants in the early hours of April 15, 2014. Dozens escaped on their own in the first few days, but 219 remain missing.

Boko Haram has not shown them since a May 2014 video in which its leader, Abubakar Shekau, warned: “You won’t see the girls again unless you release our brothers you have captured.”

In the video, nearly 100 of the girls, who have been identified by their parents, were shown wearing Islamic hijab and reciting the Quran. One of them said they had converted to Islam.

International indignation at Nigeria’s failure to rescue the girls was joined by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama. In a radio address in May 2014, she said she and President Barack Obama are “outraged and heartbroken” over the abduction.

Supporters of the girls, who continue to rally each day under the “Bring Back Our Girls” banner, on Wednesday marched to the presidential villa in Abuja to renew demands that the government bring the students home.

There have been unconfirmed reports that some of the girls have been taken to neighboring countries, and that some have been radicalized and trained as fighters. At least three were reported to have died — one from dysentery, one from malaria and one from a snake bite.

Last year, Shekau said the girls were an “old story,” and that he had married them off to his fighters.

Lawan Zanna, whose daughter is among the captives, said this week that 14 Chibok parents have died since the mass kidnapping, many from stress-related illnesses blamed on the ordeal.

Some of the Chibok girls who managed to escape have been rejected by their community and now live with family friends, tired of hearing taunts like “Boko Haram wives.”

The assumption that all girls and women held by the group have been raped is a difficult stigma to overcome in Nigeria’s highly religious and conservative society.

Shekau had threatened in 2013 to kidnap women and girls if Nigeria’s military did not release detained Boko Haram wives and children. The government freed them in May of that year, as a goodwill gesture ahead of peace talks, which failed.

Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds more — girls, boys, women and young men. Some have become sex slaves, while others are used as fighters, according to former captives.

Nigerian opinion on negotiating with the extremists is mixed. Some say the group’s crimes are too heinous to be forgiven: The 6-year-old Islamic uprising has killed more than 13,000 people and forced about 1.5 million from their homes.

“A lot of people take a hard-line stance that you must never negotiate with a terrorist,” said Sen. Chris Anyanwu. She called it a “very complex” issue, balancing the lives of more than 200 girls against the dangers of freeing extremists.

The militants last year seized a large swath of northeast Nigeria and declared an Islamic caliphate. Nigeria and its neighbors deployed a multinational army that forced them out of towns and villages this year, but the bloodshed has risen at a fierce rate since Buhari’s May 29 inauguration amid pledges to crush the insurgency.

Eno said that as the president pursues a necessary military solution, he hopes Buhari also understands the need for negotiation.

He said the latest overture comes through respected Islamic scholars and Muslim elders who were ignored by Jonathan’s people but now have taken dangerous and courageous steps to engage the insurgents.

Boko Haram Offers To Swap Detainees For Kidnapped Girls

Man Accused of Participating in Chibok Girls’ Abduction Arrested

• Two suicide bombers attack hospital as Osinbajo visits Maiduguri 

• BBOG group to meet Buhari July 8 

• UN asks Nigeria to ease abortion restrictions for Boko Haram rape victims

By Chiemelie Ezeobi in Lagos and Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri with agency reports

Nigerian troops have arrested a businessman accused of “participating actively” in Boko Haram’s mass abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State last year, Nigeria’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Boko Haram, food, fuel supplier

Quoting Defence Headquarters (DHQ) spokesman, Major-General Chris Olukolade, the UK-based Telegraph newspaper reported that the suspect, Babuji Ya’ari, headed a “terrorists’ intelligence cell” for the Islamic extremists while masquerading as a member of the self-defence Youth Vigilante Group.

This confirms suspicions that the vigilantes have been infiltrated by Boko Haram. Soldiers have told the Associated Press (AP) that some of their comrades also belong to the extremist group.

“The arrest of the businessman … has also yielded some vital information and facilitated the arrest of other members of the terrorists’ intelligence cell who are women,” Olukolade said in a statement Tuesday night.

He did not say when the arrests were made or how many people were arrested.

He alleged that Ya’ari has since 2011 coordinated several deadly attacks on Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram, and spearheaded the May 2014 assassination of the Emir of Gwoza, a religious and traditional ruler who was targeted for speaking out against Boko Haram’s extremism.

One arrested woman, Hafsat Bako, confessed to coordinating the payroll for operatives paid a minimum of N10,000 a job, the defence ministry statement said.

Boko Haram was responsible for the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok. Fifty-seven escaped but 219 schoolgirls remain missing.

The mass abduction sparked international outrage and demands for the girls’ release under the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

Nigeria soldiers fighting Boko Haram

The extremists last year took control of a large swathe of Northeastern Nigeria where they declared an Islamic caliphate. This year, they became the West African franchise of the Islamic State group.

As their attacks spread across borders, a multinational army from Nigeria and neighbouring countries mobilised and this year drove Boko Haram out of towns. But suicide bombings and attacks on villages have continued.

Nonetheless, the Chibok girls continue to remain on the front burner as the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group would on July 8 finally get to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari regarding the fate of the remaining girls who are yet to be found.

One of the co-conveners of the group and a former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, made this disclosure on her Twitter handle on Wednesday.

She tweeted: “#ChibokGirls: Stop Press. We hope you will join us @BBOG_Nigeria on our march to meet with our president on July 8 at noon. #BBOG!!!!!!!!

“We @BBOG_Nigeria have received confirmation of schedule of our meeting with @MBuhari and FG on our #ChibokGirls for July 8, 2015 at noon.

“DAY443 of our #ChibokGirls. On July 8, we shall march to the President @MBuhari to ask him what he has done and is doing to bring back our girls.

“I could have chosen the easy path of looking away on the tragedy of our #ChibokGirls to avoid the toxin they spew. God forbid. I stand on.”

In an earlier report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ezekwesili said the group had written to Buhari over the fate of the missing girls and efforts to successfully bring them back.

She was quoted to have said: “We have written to request for a meeting with the president as we did on several occasions with the previous government.

“The meeting shall enable us to express our deep anxieties at the failure of the federal government to rescue our 219 Chibok girls.

“We shall also use the meeting to understand and contribute to the strategy for countering terrorism, ensuring post-insurgency recovery and other related issues.”

But as the BBOG group prepares to meet the president, the terror sect continued to unleash mayhem Wednesday when two suicide bombers (male and female) detonated a bomb in Molai village, a few kilometres from one of the places visited by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who was on an unannounced visit to Borno State.

A member of the youth vigilante group, Modu Abba, told THISDAY on the phone that another set of suicide bombers, four days after Saturday’s similar suicide bombings at a general hospital in Molai where five persons were killed and 16 others injured, came back to attack the town for the second time.

Molai is 10 kilometres south of Maiduguri, where the vice-president was visiting internally displaced persons (IDPs) quartered in the town.

Maiduguri plays host to about 1.5 million persons made homeless by the Boko Haram insurgency, including about 125,000 quartered in 22 camps.

According to Abba, the two suicide bombers were unsuccessful in their attempt to wreak havoc and only succeeded in blowing themselves up into pieces, but two persons were injured in the process.

He said the suicide bombers were terrorists who were suspected to have sneaked into Molai from Sambisa Forest, the notorious base of the insurgents that has been under military siege for sometime.

Abba said the two suicide bombers must have been blown apart due to an accidental detonation of the explosives strapped on their bodies.

“It must have been an accidental detonation, as no known persons or structures were targeted by the suicide bombers.

“The explosion occurred at about 11 am close to Molai Leprosy/General Hospital and about 100 metres away from a local market. It left both suicide bombers dead and two innocent people injured.

“Many residents including patients admitted at the hospital were left scampering for safety,” he said.

Abba revealed that the explosive device on the first suicide bomber – the woman – detonated at the entrance of the hospital, injuring two passersby, while the other one who was riding a bicycle accidentally detonated his explosives at the back of the hospital before reaching the fence, killing himself only.

During his visit to Maiduguri on Wednesday, Osinbajo informed his audience that the federal government was moving into the next phase of management of the Boko Haram crisis. This he said entailed the resettlement of those displaced by the crisis.

The vice-president stressed that the role of government was to provide security and welfare for its people, revealing that he was in the capital of the troubled state to see to the welfare of the displaced persons.

Osinbajo, who spoke to journalists after his tour of the Dalori camp, one of the 22 IDPs’ camps in the city, the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) and the palace of the Shehu of Borno, said he had been empowered with knowledge on how to handle the IDPs and related issues, after his visit to the camp.

He disclosed that he was equally briefed by stakeholders on the IDPs, praising the efforts of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Borno State Government for providing succour to the displaced persons.

He said that the federal government was ready to assist the IDPs back on their feet after they might have been resettled.

Earlier at the camp, Osinbajo told the displaced persons that he was in Maiduguri on the instructions of the president and to see to their well-being.

He said: “I am here in Borno State and in particular in this camp on the specific instructions of the president, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, who is concerned about the well-being  and the welfare of the men, children and women in this camp.

“He has asked me to come and join the governor and see for myself what exactly is going on in the IDP camps, not just in Borno but also Yobe and Adamawa States which have been affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

“The president is extremely concerned especially about the welfare of women and children and other displaced persons and in particular those who are here in Borno State.

“He wanted me to go round and interact today with the displaced persons who are in this camp.”

Osinbajo said that based on the report presented to him and the brief interaction with the displaced persons, it was quite apparent that there has been “great human suffering and extreme trauma”.

“But the governor of Borno State has been working hard at making sure all of the trauma and hardship is greatly reduced.

“The president wants me to tell Governor (Kashim) Shettima specifically that he is extremely pleased with the hard work he has done, that he is aware that the governor has been trying to ensure the comfort and safety of the people who are in these camps and of course the entire people of Borno State.”

The vice-president acknowledged that the task at hand was onerous but the federal government was ready to play its part in leading the effort to alleviate the suffering of the displaced persons in the North-east.

He added that despite funding constraints, all persons in Nigeria including residents in the North-east have a right to education, potable water, decent health care and shelter, adding that the federal government was committed to improving the livelihoods of the people of Borno.

The vice-president’s visit however caused major disruptions for the people of the state who woke up to see many of the major roads closed.

Motorists were diverted off the major roads in Maiduguri as early as 7 am for the vice-president who arrived the town in company with the Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Sidi, at 10.45 am.

Commuters were barred from the cordoned roads until he departed the city at 3.30 pm, forcing many motorists to abandon their vehicles and walked long distances to their destinations.

Meanwhile, the United Nations rights chief on Wednesday urged Nigeria to show compassion and make it easier for women and girls who became pregnant in Boko Haram captivity to access abortions.

Boko Haram militants are estimated by Amnesty International (AI) to have kidnapped more than 2,000 women and girls in Northeastern Nigeria since the beginning of 2014, including the Chibok girls kidnapped last year.

“During their captivity, lasting in many cases for months or even years, women and girls have been sexually enslaved, raped and forced into so-called ‘marriages’,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein told the UN Human Rights council in a special session on Boko Haram.

“Many survivors of these horrific experiences are now pregnant for their rapists … and several reportedly wish to terminate these unwanted pregnancies,” he said.

But in Nigeria, abortion is only legal when the life of the woman is at risk, Zeid said, warning that a lack of access would only add to the horrendous suffering the former captives had been through.

“I strongly urge the most compassionate possible interpretation of the current regulations in Nigeria to include the risk of suicide and risks to mental health for women and young girls who have suffered such appalling cruelty,” he said.

He also called on authorities to help women and girls freed from Boko Haram enslavement, who often face stigmatisation, to reintegrate them into their communities.

During his speech, Zeid accused Boko Haram of a litany of other atrocities in Nigeria and in neighbouring Cameroun, Chad and Niger, including massacres, beheadings, torture, burning people to death in their own houses and forcing children to become soldiers.

He demanded that perpetrators be brought to justice, but also warned that hard-handed tactics by the military and police fighting Boko Haram risked exacerbating the suffering of civilians and increasing support for the militants.

He pointed to reports of “shocking conditions of detention in north-eastern Nigeria, including torture and lack of food or water,” and the lengthy detention of women and children released from Boko Haram captivity, reportedly for screening and rehabilitation.

He also referred to the AI report last month accusing senior Nigerian officials of “war crimes” in connection with the Boko Haram battle.

But the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bulus Z. Lolo, slammed the Amnesty report as “demoralising”, insisting to the council yesterday that it constituted an “undue interference in the work our security agencies are undertaking under very difficult circumstances against the insurgents (which) can only serve to strengthen and embolden Boko Haram”.

Nigerian forces were not the only ones accused of heavy-handedness. Zeid referred to the widely criticised case of 84 children, aged seven to 15, detained since last December “in near starvation conditions” after Camerounian forces raided what was first said to be a Boko Haram training camp, but which witnesses have said was an ordinary Koranic school.

Camerounian Ambassador Anatole Fabien Nkou told the council that all 84 children had now been released, and that they had only been held long enough “to establish their level of involvement” in Boko Haram crimes.

Man Accused of Participating in Chibok Girls’ Abduction Arrested

Chibok Girls Turn Boko Haram Fighters; Kill Other Captives

Some of the 219 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped on April 14, 2014 have been forced to join the fighters of the Boko Haram sect, the BBC has been told.

Chibok girls

Witnesses told BBC Panorama Programme that some of them are now being used to terrorise other captives, and are even carrying out killings themselves.

The BBC cannot verify the testimony, but Amnesty International says other girls kidnapped by Boko Haram have been forced to fight.

The Chibok schoolgirls are still missing, more than a year after they were kidnapped from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

Three women who claimed they were held in the same camps as some of the Chibok girls told the BBC’s Panorama Programmeon Monday that some of them had been brainwashed and are now carrying out punishments on behalf of the militants.

Seventeen-year-old Miriam (not her real name) fled Boko Haram after being held for six months. She was forced to marry a militant, and is now pregnant with his child.

Recounting her first days in the camp she said, “They told us to get ready, that they were going to marry us off.”

She and four others refused.

“They came back with four men, they slit their throats in front of us. They then said that this will happen to any girl that refuses to get married,” she stated.

Faced with that choice, she agreed to marry, and was then repeatedly raped. “There was so much pain,” she said. “I was only there in body, I couldn’t do anything about it.”

While in captivity, Miriam described meeting some of the Chibok schoolgirls. She said they were kept in a separate house to the other captives.

“They told us: ‘You women should learn from your husbands because they are giving their blood for the cause. We must also go to war for Allah.’”

She said the girls had been “brainwashed” and that she had witnessed some of them kill several men in her village.

“They were Christian men. They [the Boko Haram fighters] forced the Christians to lie down. Then the girls cut their throats.”

It is not possible to independently verify Miriam’s claims, but human rights group, Amnesty International said their research also showed that some girls abducted by Boko Haram had been trained to fight.

“The abduction and brutalisation of young women and girls seems to be part of the modus operandi of Boko Haram,” said Netsanet Belay, Africa director, research and advocacy at Amnesty International.

Anna, aged 60, is one of them. She fled a camp in the Sambisa Forest in December where she was held for five months. She now sits beneath a tree close to the cathedral in the Adamawa State capital of Yola. Her only possessions are the clothes she ran away in.

She said she saw some of the Chibok schoolgirls just before she fled the forest.

“They had guns,” she said.

When pressed on how she could be sure that it was the Chibok schoolgirls that she’d seen, Anna said, “They (Boko Haram) didn’t hide them. They told us, ‘These are your teachers from Chibok.’

“They shared the girls out as teachers to teach different groups of women and girls to recite the Koran,” Anna recalled.

She added, “Young girls who couldn’t recite were being flogged by the Chibok girls.”

Like Miriam, Anna also said she had seen some of the Chibok schoolgirls commit murder. “People were tied and laid down and the girls took it from there… The Chibok girls slit their throats,” said Anna.

Anna said she felt no malice towards the girls she had seen taking part in the violence, only pity. “It’s not their fault they were forced to do it,” she added.

“Anyone who sees the Chibok girls has to feel sorry for them,” he said.

Chibok Girls Turn Boko Haram Fighters; Kill Other Captives

Chibok girls held in bunkers in Sambisa forest – Shettima

*Asks military to search beyond surface earth

By Joseph Erunke

ABUJA –  Borno State governor, Kassim Shettima, Tuesday, said there was every tendency that the female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, abducted by members of the Boko Haram sect, in April 2014, were being held in bunkers, inside Sambisa Forest.

To this end, he has asked the military, which is combing the forest not only to fish out members of the sect but to also liberate the over 200 girls to carry their assignment beyond surface earth.

Shettima, spoke in Abuja, while presenting a paper at a two-day post election conference on security and governance, organized by the Savanna Centre, a Non Governmental Organisation, NGO, established by former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.

The governor, who was represented at the occasion by the Secretary, Borno Elders Forum, Dr Bulama Mala Gubio, said the dreaded sect, having operated in the large expanse of the forest for so many years unchallenged, were able to build a bunker, large enough to accommodate many people in the area.

“We are suspecting that Chibok girls are living with the insurgents in bunkers, I think the military must carry out their operations beyond the surface earth,” he insisted.

“They (Boko Haram) were also known to have dug tunnels to enable them move from house to house. So, having been left unchallenged for such a long time, such possibilities cannot be ruled out which poses serious obstacles within the forest, “the governor added.

Speaking further, Shettima said: “The insurgents used their bases in the Sambisa Forest to launch deadly attacks and make quick retreat to their base which enabled them capture and take over control of all the local government areas bordering Nigeria with Cameroon, Chad and Niger, thus effectively cutting off the three neighbouring countries thereby declaring what they assumed was their their independent territory (caliphate).”

The governor also said unless Sambisa Forest was completely and effectively rid off of the terrorists by the military, any reconstruction and rehabilitation carried out in the North East region would be exercise in futility.

 

Chibok girls held in bunkers in Sambisa forest – Shettima

Chibok girls seen alive in Gwoza

More than 50 of the girls abducted by Boko Haram last year were seen alive three weeks ago, a woman has told the BBC.

She saw the girls in Gwoza town before the Boko Haram militants were driven out of there by regional forces.

Boko Haram sparked global outrage when it seized more than 219 girls from Chibok town a year ago.

The US, China and other foreign powers promised to help find the girls.

However, the girls have never been traced, and little has been heard of them since they were taken from their boarding school.

The whereabouts of the remaining girls is not clear.

The Nigerian woman, who lived under Boko Haram’s rule in Gwoza, said she saw the girls in Islamic attire, being escorted by the militants.

“They said they were Chibok girls kept in a big house,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.

“We just happened to be on the same road with them,” she added.

Three other women also told the BBC they had seen the girls in Gwoza.

Boko Haram was believed to have turned Gwoza into its headquarters after it captured the town in August 2014.

Nigeria’s military, backed by troops from neighbouring countries, recaptured the town last month.

The militants were suspected to have fled to the nearby Mandara Mountains, near the border with Cameroon.

It is unclear whether the girls are with them there.

Another woman told the BBC she last saw some of the girls in November at a Boko Haram camp in Bita village, also in the north-east.

“About a week after they were brought to the camp, one of us peeked through a window and asked: ‘Are you really the Chibok girls?’ and they said: ‘Yes’. We believed them and didn’t ask them again,” the woman said.

“They took Koranic lessons, cleaned their compound, cooked for themselves and they braided each others’ hair. They were treated differently – their food [was] better and water clean. “

Nigeria’s outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan has been widely criticised for not doing enough to end the six-year insurgency in the north-east, and to secure the freedom of the girls.

Incoming President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to “crush” the insurgents.

He is due to be inaugurated on 29 May after defeating Jonathan in last month’s a Presidential elections.

This is a BBC report:

Chibok girls seen alive in Gwoza

Government playing politics with Chibok girls - Falana

2

Nigerian women’s rights activist, Mrs.  Funmi  Falana, has accused the Federal Government of playing politics with the over 200 abducted pupils of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state.

Chibok girls

She frowned at the inability of the Federal Government to secure the freedom of the students abducted by the Boko Haram group.

She expressed her worry during the annual Christmas Party with inmates of the Erelu Adebayo Motherless Children Home, Iyin-Ekiti .

At the event, Falana presented items including toiletries, packs of noodles, children toys and others to the children.

“Rather than intensifying effort at winning the children back,” Mrs Falana lamented that “government had been playing politics and was not doing enough to free the captives.

“It is unfortunate. We have been making the advocacy at every opportunity that government should bring back our girls alive. We need them alive, they are precious to us.

“We are crying for their return. We don’t want Nigerian leaders to play politics with the lives of this children. The future is theirs. We need and want them to be brought back.”

Mrs Falana urged wealthy individuals to always remember the less privileged in the society, most especially the motherless, by assisting them with whatever they can afford.

“By the circumstance of their birth, they should not feel less privileged. It is not by their own making. Infact they are as important as their colleagues out there. We want to make them feel loved. We do this every year to make them happy.

“Last year we gave them a big grinder, the penultimate year,we gave them a generator. We also donated a computer set to them sometime ago. But this year we concentrated on the personal needs and food items of the children,” she added.

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Government playing politics with Chibok girls - Falana

Police ambush BBOG campaigners in Abuja

Policemen on Thursday cut short the street protest by members of the #BringBackOurGirls movement as they walked along the Shehu Shagari Way, Abuja, distributing fliers to motorists and passers-by to remind them of the plight of the 219 Chibok girls that are still in Boko Haram captivity.

The policemen numbering about 20 barricaded the road with their vehicles at the junction to the  Presidential Villa, a move that enraged the activists who shouted in anger.

The BBOG members raised questions about the billions of naira raised for the victims of terrorism in the country through the Victim Support Fund, noting that the money was not being used to ameliorate the sufferings of Internally Displaced Persons and other victims of the insurgency.

The coalition members, who took off from their regular meeting point, the Unity Fountain, Maitama, after a short session, initially walked to the National Assembly gate where they flayed the lawmakers for proceeding on Christmas holidays while the abducted girls languished in the forest.

A Co-coordinator of the group, Oby Ezekwesili, said the lawmakers should be “ashamed of  themselves for going on break while the Chibok girls are with wicked men in the bush.”

A police patrol team which had been following the group from the Unity Fountain, quickly radioed for support and about three other vehicles quickly drove to the shut NASS gate.

A dark man in white native, apparently a senior security officer, was observed speaking to his boss on his hand held radio, and  reporting the situation. He was overheard saying “the protest is being led by a former education minister.”

After spending a few minutes, the BBOG members left and as they walked towards the Presidential Villa junction, policemen in four vehicles quickly drove to the junction and blocked it, to prevent the protesters from heading that way.

This infuriated the #BBOG members who railed against the operatives, but they were not deterred as they massed at the junction and shared out fliers to motorists.

A member, Bukky Shonibare, who just returned from delivering relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons in Yola, Adamawa State, noted that 98 per cent of the IDPs are not living in camps but with private families.

She explained that the displaced persons were suffering, adding that most of them lacked food, shelter and clothing and other basic needs.

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Police ambush BBOG campaigners in Abuja

Boko Haram Releases New Video, Debunks Ceasefire And Says Kidnapped Girls Married Off

The leader of Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, has released a new video, a military source in Maiduguri confirmed to SaharaReporters.

According to the source, in the new video Shekau dismissed the much-publicized ceasefire with the Nigerian government as announced by Nigeria’s military chief, Alex Badeh, whose hometown of Vintim was captured today in Adamawa State.

On the 200th day since they were kidnapped, Shekau also said the 219 Chibok secondary schoolgirls have been married to members of the sect.

Shekau further said some of the girls, who earlier refused to convert, have finally accepted Islam.

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Boko Haram Releases New Video, Debunks Ceasefire And Says Kidnapped Girls Married Off

Boko Haram: Red Cross negotiates Chibok girls swap

The International Committee of the Red Cross has become involved in a secret prisoner swap deal to secure the release of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Chibok girls

The Telegraph UK reports that officials from the Geneva-based organisation are involved in talks between the Federal Government and a senior Boko Haram leader currently held in one of the country’s maximum security prisons.

According to the report published online on Thursday, the Red Cross officials have also visited a number of other jails, identifying a list of 16 senior commanders that Boko Haram wants freed in exchange for its hostages.

A veteran civil rights activist, Fred Eno, who has been involved in the talks, told the Telegraph, “We felt the negotiations would go better with the backing of a major international humanitarian organisation like the ICRC.

“There have been two or three ICRC people at each meeting-international staff, rather than Nigerians-and they accompany the government security agents to the various prisons and detention centres to identify the people that Boko Haram want released.”

The negotiations began around two months ago, when representatives of the ICRC, along with government officials and intermediaries from Nigerian civil rights groups, met with a senior Boko Haram leader currently serving a life sentence in Kuje prison, Abuja.

The Boko Haram leader, identified only as “Omar”, acted as a spokesman for all the group’s detainees.

A source close to the talks claimed that at one point, the discussions came close to reaching a deal, with delegations despatched to Yola, Adamawa, in preparation for picking up the girls.

However, the deal then broke down when Boko Haram refused to release all the girls at once, as the government had insisted.

“The insurgents wanted to release the girls on a piecemeal basis, but the government turned down that offer.

“There was also some opposition from some factions inside of the government to doing any kind of prisoner swap at all, as they feel the Boko Haram prisoners are hardened criminals who have committed heinous crimes,” the source said.

Eno said the 16 prisoners that Boko Haram wanted released were not well-known names among the Nigerian public, but were still senior figures in the group.

He added that one of the reasons for the breakdown in the agreement was that in some cases, the ICRC and prison authorities had been unable to match the names on the Boko Haram list to prisoners held in any jails.

According to him, this could be because the names were simply wrong or inaccurate, but that the group had inferred that the government was trying to hold some prisoners back, and had therefore refused to release all the girls at once.

Western diplomats in Abuja also told The Telegraph recently that they doubted the girls would ever be released because of Western pressure on the Nigerian government not to negotiate with a terrorist group as brutal as Boko Haram.

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Boko Haram: Red Cross negotiates Chibok girls swap

Chibok girls: Powerful Nigerians don’t want girls rescued — Negotiator

Some powerful Nigerians are sabotaging the efforts of the Federal Government and other concerned citizens to ensure that the over 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram are set free.

Chibok girls

This was disclosed by the President, Civil Rights Congress, Mr. Shehu Sani, in an exclusive interview with SUNDAY PUNCHlast week.

Sani, who has been involved in efforts to get government and Boko Haram to discuss the fate of the girls in the past, said some powerful individuals, whom he refused to name, ensured that the talks derailed.

Sani’s disclosure came even as SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that government had begun fresh talks with the group to secure the release of the girls.

Reports have claimed that the girls who were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, have been sighted in camps inside Sambisa Forest, in some border towns near Cameroon and in the Central African Republic.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Sani; and a United Arab Emirates-based Nigerian freelance journalist, Ahmad Salkida, who had communication channels with Boko Haram, had offered to mediate between the government and the sect. But none of these efforts have yielded fruits.

There have been speculations that recently President Goodluck Jonathan and Obasanjo held a meeting to discuss how to negotiate the release of the girls.

Sani, who is one of the negotiators facilitating the current talks, confirmed that government and the sect had started another round of talks for the release of the girls. However, he expressed fears that the powerful Nigerians who sabotaged earlier talks might derail the ongoing talks if care was not taken.

“What I want to tell you is that something is being done about it but I’m not disposed to making it public. Most times, publicising these issues always lead to sabotage by those who do not want the girls freed. I will not mention the names of these Nigerians.

“However, I can tell you that real and genuine moves are going on, which I am a part of. The claim that the girls have been abandoned is not true. There are genuine efforts by government and some individuals, who are discreetly making efforts toward getting their (pupils’) safe return home.”

The human rights activist noted that the girls could only be freed either forcefully or through dialogue and negotiation.

He added that the foreign intervention sought by some Nigerians had not produced results.

The United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Israel had offered to assist Nigeria in rescuing the school girls.

Both the US and the UK had sent security experts and technology to locate the abductees and secure their release. While the US claimed to have located the girls, France had specifically opposed negotiations with the sect.

Speaking on efforts made by these countries so far, Sani said, “I am not aware of any serious efforts made by any foreign country. I am not aware of what is happening on the side of the US forces. From the side of dialogue or negotiation, I have not seen any serious intervention or involvement of these countries.”

Similarly, the Convener, Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said some powerful forces had been frustrating efforts to free the girls

The Second Republic lawmaker said, “Powerful forces have proceeded to stall the negotiation over certain political gains.”

Confirming the negotiation plan, the President, Kibaku Youth Association of Nigeria (a community in Chibok Local Government Area), Mr. Moses Zakwa, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the Federal Government engaged the services of an Australian negotiator.

He, however, said he was not aware if any Nigerian was engaged by the government for talks with the sect.

Zakwa said, “Some weeks ago, we understood that the Federal Government hired a private negotiator who has been working in regards to the release of the Chibok girls. Every person in Chibok and Borno State knows too well that a former governor of the state is the founder of Boko Haram. Everybody sees him like a semi-god that cannot be touched by any authority.”

Zakwa also revealed that the Chibok community had resolved to protect itself against further attacks from Boko Haram. He also dropped hints that the community might take the fight to the Islamic sect.

He said, “What I want to assure you is that the community and its indigenes are ready. We want to take the bull by the horn. Whatever it will cost us, we are fully ready to face members of Boko Haram. I want to assure you that an earthquake will soon happen and Nigerians will be happy with what we plan to do.”

However, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Pan Chibok Youths Association, Dr. Allen Manasseh, told our correspondent that he was not aware of any ongoing talks between the government and the sect.

He said, “I am not aware of any negotiation because I am not privy to that information yet. As I am speaking to you, I am in Chibok and I don’t know when negotiation started or how far they have gone with the negotiation. But if they have started negotiation with Boko Haram, then it is okay by us.”

Manasseh, however, expressed doubts about the Federal Government’s resolve to rescue the girls. While describing the ongoing efforts as belated, the Chibok youth leader said the government had had enough time to rescue the girls.

He said, “That is where my scepticism will come in because the girls in captivity are over a hundred and if the Federal Government is willing to negotiate with whoever is holding them captive, then it has taken too long for them to do that.”

The Northern Elders Forum had on August 11, 2014, given President Jonathan up to October to produce the schoolgirls or forget his 2015 presidential re-election bid.

An ex-Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr. Solomon Dalung, at a press briefing on behalf of the forum said the failure of the President to produce the Chibok girls and tackle other security challenges in the land, amounted to the forfeiture of his rights to ask for another mandate to lead Nigeria beyond 2015.

“In the light of our firm conviction that the insurgency and related security challenges pose threats to the 2015 elections and the survival of our nation, we strongly advise President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to bring an end to the insurgency in all its manifestations and produce the Chibok girls before the end of October 2014,” Dalung stated.

But Jonathan had reacted through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, saying he was already working on how to rescue the abducted girls.

“President Jonathan does not require any threat or ultimatum from any group of persons to be alive to his responsibilities to the Nigerian people,” Okupe had said.

Efforts to get the Presidency to confirm the said negotiation on Friday proved abortive.

Several calls made to the telephones of both the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, were not picked. Also, they did not respond to a text message sent to them.

Last Monday, a United States-based journal, Foreign Policy, listed the girls’ rescue as one of the missions that had been “forgotten” by the US government.

According to the magazine, the rescue of the girls is one of ‘The Pentagon’s top five “forgotten missions.”’

In a report titled ‘Forgotten Mission,’ which was published on Monday, the journal said there was no end in sight for the US mission in Nigeria to free the schoolgirls.

The abduction had called global attention, especially through a social media campaign with the hash tag, #BringBackOurGirls.

Foreign Policy recalled that President Barack Obama’s administration had deployed manned and unmanned aircraft to find the girls.

“It also dispatched advisors from the State and Defence departments, as well as the FBI. In late May, 80 troops (were) deployed in Chad to support and maintain unarmed Predator drones providing the mission with surveillance,” Foreign Policy added.

The journal further said, “Approximately 60 girls have escaped but the rest remain missing. Other missions said to have been forgotten by the US government included the hunting down of Joseph Kony of the LRA in Central Africa; destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons; NATO air policing; and the US operations in Afghanistan.

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Chibok girls: Powerful Nigerians don’t want girls rescued — Negotiator

Boko Haram: Britain to send three Tornado planes to locate Chibok girls

BRITAIN’s Royal Air Force plans to send three fighter jets to help in locating the more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14 this year.

Jonathan meeting with the chibok girls

The RAF Tornado GR4s equipped with surveillance facilities, according to Daily Mail on Wednesday, will undertake “reconnaissance missions” over the Sambissa Forest where the girls are believed to be held.

A British government source told The Times that the jets would help the Nigerian authorities in tracking the movements of the insurgents.

The report however added that the mission was dependent on a nearby nation giving the British government the nod to use its runway.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman did not deny the report about the deployment of the planes.

He said, “The United Kingdom continues to work with the United States and France as well as Nigeria’s neighbours and international partners to provide advice and assistance to the Nigerian government.

“Together with our allies we have provided continuous surveillance support to the Nigerian authorities, including satellite imagery. We are still in discussion with partners on the deployment of further surveillance capability.”

Last Friday, Britain’s Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, had condemned the abduction of over 100 people in Nigeria and had pledged that the UK would continue to support in the fight against Boko Haram.

He said, “I am appalled to see reports of another large abduction by terrorists in the North- East of Nigeria. Officials at the British High Commission in Abuja are urgently looking into the details. The UK stands firmly with Nigeria as it faces the scourge of Boko Haram.”

The group on Monday killed at least three people and kidnapped 15 others in a fresh cross-border attack in northern Cameroon.

“The attack took place on Monday afternoon when at least 20 armed men tried to get food supplies, stealing all the [food] stocks found in the Cameroonian village of Greya,” the source told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

The source added, “Boko Haram militants killed at least three civilians and abducted a dozen others – presumably all Cameroonians.’’

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Boko Haram: Britain to send three Tornado planes to locate Chibok girls

I am satisfy with Jonathan’s efforts to rescue Chibok girls— IBB

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, is 73 years old today. In this interview to mark the occasion, Babangida, fondly called IBB, speaks on some critical issues in the country, including the continuous detention of the Chibok girls by the Islamist group, Boko Haram, the power situation in the country, the 2015 general elections, among others.

It has been over 100 days since the kidnapping of the Chibok school girls. Despite the assurances by the international community, the girls have not been found. What is the way forward? When do you think we can get these girls back home to their parents?

Perhaps the way forward is what government is doing now. I know there are complications. It is no longer an issue that you could ask the military to move into Sambisa forest and rescue the girls. I think Nigerians want the girls rescued and brought back home alive not dead; that is a very daring thing to do. From my experience as a professional soldier, a lot of planning, a lot of cooperation, a lot of study has to be done to achieve this objective. 217 or whatever the number is, is a lot of population to lose just like that. So I think government is trying from what we got during our last briefing; I am quite satisfied that efforts are really being made to get the girls out. You see, the objective is to get them out of that place alive, the operative word is alive, you can order a full scale military operation and you could get them all killed which would defeat the objective.

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I am satisfy with Jonathan’s efforts to rescue Chibok girls— IBB