FG cautions BBOG over criticism

The Federal Government has asked the Bring Back Our Girls group to concentrate on advocacy for the release of abducted Chibok girls rather than antagonizing government efforts at rescuing the girls.

A statement yesterday in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the BBOG’s continued portrayal of the government as an adversary and the needless firing of darts at the President, who is doing his utmost best to bring the girls back home safely, are counterproductive.

He said in order to carry the group along as well as show transparency in search for the girls, government has often bent over backwards noting that the recent invitation extended to the group to witness first-hand the search for the girls by the Nigerian Air Force is a clear indication of this.

‘‘However, it came to us as a surprise that in spite of its initial positive report on the tour, the BBOG has too quickly reverted to its adversarial role. BBOG should stick to its role as an advocacy group rather than pretending to be an opposition party. The synonyms of the word ‘advocacy’ do not include ‘antagonism’, ‘opposition’ or ‘attack’. In fact, those words are the antonyms of ‘advocacy’,’’ he said.

Mohammed said it amounts to needless grandstanding for the BBOG to say it will no longer tolerate ‘’delays’’ and ‘’excuses’’ from the president on the release of the girls, as reported by the media, saying “such impudent language should have been reserved for those who did nothing in the first 500 days of the girls’ abduction.”