A non-governmental organisation, Youth Advocate for Change (YAFC) has expressed its displeasure about the handling of the release of the remaining 98 Chibok girls kidnapped over nine years ago by Boko Haram and appealed to the incoming administration to expedite actions over the release of these girls.
AYFC’s Team Lead, Mr Adeola Ogunlade, in a statement sent to Sunrise News on Saturday, said President Muhammadu Buhari came into power promising to tackle headlong the cankerworms of corruption and insecurity and more importantly, he vowed to bring back Chibok girls, kidnapped nine years, by Boko Haram terrorists.
He reminded President Buhari that he would be remembered for reneging on his promise to bring back all the Chibok girls abducted by the groups. He noted that it is sad that he would be leaving office without fulfilling his promise to Nigerians and the world, as 98 girls remained in captivity.
While commending the efforst of the government for the safe return of some of the abducted girls, emphasized that the incoming government should “take decisive actions to rescue and reunite these innocent girls back to their parents.
He said: “We called for the concerted effort of all military agencies and other relevant organisations to work together at getting the Chibok girls back to their parents.”
He opined that the recent onslaught by the insurgency group which led to the abduction of 10 school children in Kaduna is worrisome and must be dealt with decisively.
He lamented that the continued attack on educational institutions by insurgents will continue to keep millions of children away from schools, especially in northern Nigeria.
Ogunlade added that all hands must be on deck to make Nigeria safe, secure for our children and generation yet unborn, adding that education remains the pillar of development across the world.
He pointed out that according to UNICEF report, “all children, no matter where they live or their circumstances, have the right to quality education. In northeast Nigeria, at least 496 classrooms have been destroyed and 1,392 classrooms have been damaged but repairable.
“The education deprivation in northern Nigeria is driven by various factors, including economic barriers and socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls”.
He charged every parent and people of goodwill all over the world to use whatever influence they have to ensure that Chibok girls as well as other children in captivity are released without any further delay.
He called for prayers as the new administration comes in so that the reign of terrorism will be a thing of the past in our country and across the West coast of Africa.
It will be recalled that in April 2014, over 200 students were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School Chibok in Borno. At least 98 of the 276 abducted school girls are reportedly still in captivity and school abductions have lingered on over the years in Nigeria.