Chibok women blast FG on abducted girls Ndume calls for foreign support
Women from Chibok, the community where over 200 girls were abducted more than two weeks ago, have condemned what they described as the federal government’s inaction in rescuing the teenage girls.
The women, who came under the aegis of Kibaku Area Development Association, Abuja branch, said this yesterday when they marched from the Eagle Square to the National Assembly in Abuja to press government to take action to free the girls.
Over 200 girls were abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on April 14.
The protesting women who wept during the rally carried placards bearing such inscriptions as, ‘Nigeria, our children are still missing,’ FGN rescue our girls,’ ‘Our girls held for 15 days now,’ ‘A vacuum created help!’ among others.
Speaking on behalf of the women, Mrs. Naomi Mutah said they decided to hold the protest because more than two weeks after the abduction of the school girls, they have not heard anything from the government.
She said: “It is now the third weeks since these girls were abducted like cows for the slaughter house. We don’t know if they are alive or dead. Nobody from government has spoken to us as a community. We have come here to express our displeasure and probably when they see us for themselves like this; it will propel them to do what they are supposed to do.
“We want the government to rescue our daughters from the hands of the abductors. As far as I am concerned as I am talking to you we are not satisfied. So they should do more. Our people in Chibok are very devastated and hypertensive. We are very worried that we may not see our daughters again,” she said.
An indigene of Chibok, Lawal Aubani whose three nieces are among the abducted girls said: “Government is not doing enough, they should re-strategize if need be to rescue the girls.”
Mary Battah, another Chibok woman said the women are very sad and pained about the abduction saying “women and girls are very vulnerable (and) harmless people. (They have) been abducted for 15 days nothing concrete has been done. All that we see is on the pages of newspaper.”
Highlights of the protest was when Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South, came out of the senate session to lead the women in prayer for God’s divine intervention in rescuing the girls.
Fielding questions from journalists, Senator Ndume said government needed to intensify action even if it meant seeking external support to rescue the girls.
“Even if it means seeking external support to make sure these girls are released-the longer it takes the dimmer the chances of finding them and the longer it takes the more traumatized the family and the abducted girls are,” he said.
The protesting women also presented a letter to the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Hajiya Zainab Maina for onward transmission to President Goodluck Jonathan. Speaking separately, Senator Helen Esuene and Senator Zainab Kure told the women to be patient that the government was not relenting in its efforts in finding the girls.