First Lady Welcomes Rescued Chibok Girl

First lady, Oluremi Tinubu, yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, received Rebecca Kabu, one of the 277 Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram in 2014.

The first lady who received Rebecca along with the wife of the vice president, Hajia Nana Shettima, promised to ensure that Rebecca is well taken care of medically and fit to return to school willingly.

Mrs Tinubu while assuring that the remaining girls in captivity are not forgotten, thanked the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) other security agencies and those who were involved in Rebecca’s rescue.

“Our dear daughter, Rebecca, I welcome you, I’ve been praying for you all night, it is well with you, what has happened is much trauma; words are inadequate for me to describe it.

“Cases of amnesia should be treated; it is difficult to get by, but since you are still here, God has plans for you. I thank the office of the NSA and NIA for not relenting and everyone that is assisting in her rehabilitation.

“Rebecca will be our first comeback story and returnee, she is our first fruit; she is a case I am quite interested in to see that she can go back to school at her own pace,’’ she said.

She said her NGO, Renewed Hope Initiative, was strongly working on how mature girls who are forced out of school can return to school for quality education.

She promised that Rebecca would be one of the first recipients of her benevolence.

The first lady said the younger ones, if well educated, would be able to fit into the society and inherit the good legacies the older ones are leaving behind.

“Earlier, I talked to the NSA representative about cases of alternative high school where girls like Rebecca can go back and learn at their pace, because education is important for her and others.

“They need education as tool for the market place, to be able to understand and manage the inheritance and legacies that shall be handed to them.

“We pray and continue to pray that all our children that are still with Boko Haram will come back home, we are waiting in earnest, we have not given up hope, I am sure that by the time she is reunited with her parents, she will be glad.

“With the governor waiting for her, she is in good hands,’’ she added.

Responding, Rebecca told the first lady that she could barely understand English Language, but the first lady condoled her, saying she would overcome it.

Earlier, the coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre, NSA, Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa, said Rebecca, kidnapped at age 13 in 2014 and now 22 years old, was rescued by government security agencies on July 17.

He said she had been certified medically and mentally fit to be reunited with her parents at Zana village in Borno State.

He said subsequently, the NSA’s office would follow up and present her case alongside the 15 other rehabilitated girls that were rescued for federal government’s education support.

“She was rescued and repatriated from Cameroon on July 17,  and has completed intensive medical screening and physiological evaluation over the past two weeks by a team of medical and psychological experts between the office of NSA and the National Intelligent Agency.

“Rebecca has been found to be in good health and is psychologically stable; the next step is to hand her over to the Borno State governor for onward reunion with her family in Zana,” he said.