· Says I don’t know where your daughters are
The drama over the purported abduction of over 219 school girls in Chibok, Borno State, over the past three years by the Boko Haram insurgents is beginning to unfold certain seeming realities. President Muhammadu Buhari, at the meeting with the Bringbackourgirls (BBOG) Group this Thursday, had told the parents of the missing Chibok girls that he did not know where their daughters were. it was gathered that 136 parents of missing girls in conjunction with members of the Bringbackourgirls (BBOG) group, converged on the banquet hall of the presidential villa, seeking answers to the whereabouts of the 219 missing schoolgirls from Chibok.
They were said to be shocked and broken when the President told them in unequivocal terms that he did not have any information on their whereabouts. It was earlier reported that the President barred journalists from covering the meeting which last about 45 minutes.
Aisha Yesufu, a leader of the BBOG movement, was gathered to have said that the advocacy group would keep demanding the safe rescue of the girls from the government.
. “The president said he had no credible intelligence on the missing Chibok girls. He said he is somebody who does not lie. And he will not start by lying,” Yesufu cited to have said. “We are not saying the president should lie, but when you are saying there is no credible intelligence, and that the girls are scattered and married off; then, how do we know? These are two things. And he said it (abduction of the Chibok girls) happened during the last administration. I find it very worrisome. I remember one of the parents asked what he meant by saying it happened in the last administration. Does it mean the girls will not be rescued? “I would like the president to know that there is no vacuum in government. That it happened during the last administration is not an excuse. It is duty of the Nigerian government to ensure that the Chibok girls are rescued. It is their right and not a privilege. And where we have failed there is a need for us to apologise,” she had protested.
“… I was terribly sad and shocked because the President did not look at the parents to say ‘we are sorry as a nation for your children who have been abducted for 21 months’. The President finished his speech; he dropped the microphone and walked out. And I thought that could have been a moment for him to connect with the parents. We will continue our campaign. We do not care who the head of the government is. It is duty of the Nigerian Government to rescue the Chibok and we will continue making our demands. The government should stop the excuses,” Yesufu protested.
The President was accompanied to the meeting by some top security officials, including the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.