Elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark has urged President Bola Tinubu to promptly assemble a special task force of soldiers to rescue the remaining abducted Chibok girls, adding that no administration has prioritised the return of the girls.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja yesterday, Clark, leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), who stressed that the taskforce should comprise competent and unbiased personnels, recommended that it should be given a specific time frame to carry out the rescue mission.
He lamented the lack of priority given to the Chibok girls’ abduction since President Goodluck Jonathan’s efforts were “thwarted by politicians in the North East.”
Recall that The Boko Haram insurgents abducted 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure. Presently, 89 of them remain in captivity, as disclosed by the Borno State government.
He said, “Mr President should appoint a special taskforce as a matter of urgency to rescue those girls. There are committed soldiers, there are some who are not committed. Where are we going? We want a united Nigeria.
“I believe that the federal government under President Tinubu should appoint a taskforce, a competent taskforce comprising the military, without nepotism to rescue these girls.
“Jonathan tried but politics didn’t allow him. President Jonathan should have declared a state of emergency in the three states in the North East – Yobe, Borno and Adamawa. They accused Jonathan of allowing Boko Haram to kill northerners.”
He lamented that no government has given this Chibok girls issue a priority.
“Some of the girls have come out, others are still there. For one of the girls to say she wants to go back to the bush means that there is a problem somewhere.
“My fellow patriots, Nigerians particularly those in power should hide themselves in shame that there was no serious attempt to free the Chibok girls’ right from the time when they were abducted.
“The Boko Haram which abducted the girls did not initially come for these girls in Chibok, they came to do their own shopping when they saw these girls gathered in their hostels.
“The vehicles the Boko Haram brought was not enough to carry over 200 girls, they had to take extra vehicles from a garage and even then, it was very difficult for them to move fast after the abduction; that was responsible for about 57 of the girls jumping out of the vehicles and freeing themselves.
“The Federal Government appointed a committee under the Chairmanship of Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Sabo (rtd) from Gombe State in the North-East of Nigeria to look into the abduction of the girls and which went into action immediately.
“The committee reported that the Federal Ministry of Education had advised the Borno State Government to hold the examination in other centers for security reasons, but the State Governor refused. stating that he would provide adequate security for the school, which from the turn of events, he never did. Unfortunately, ten years after, the Chibok girls are not all back.
“No person allegedly accused has actually been prosecuted and brought to book. Honestly, the issue of a conspiracy theory in the whale Chibok girls’ abduction is so strong in several quarters that it cannot just be swept under the carpet.
“During the period of abduction, I made every attempt to discuss the matter with various persons including the then first Lady of the country, Her Excellency, Mrs Patience Jonathan.
“Her sincere belief was that the abduction was more political and carried out by people who wanted her husband down and out by all means, because even when she invited all the people who were mainly concerned with the issue, to channel a way forward out at the unfortunate, life-threatening and embarrassing situation, not all of those invited heeded the invitation.
“In fact, that was what gave rise to what later came to be her popular statement, which I believe was made out of exasperation, when she asked “Na only you waka come? There is God of.”
Clark added that while some people made a joke out of her question and exclamation, anyone in her shoes would feel the same way. He said the absence of the principal of a school, who was away in Maiduguri on health grounds during such a period, gave room for suspicion.
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