Parents of the abducted Chibok girls have accused the Federal Government and the Nigerian military authorities of lack of diligence and insincerity in rescuing their children taken away by the Boko Haram sect over two years ago.
They are also angry with the military for failing to take their advice to either seek the help of the Armed Forces of some advanced countries or equip the local vigilante members in the area to comb the Sambisa Forest to rescue the children.
They further deplored the recent declaration of three persons wanted by the Nigerian Army, saying the action was a demonstration of the military’s incapability and failure to act decisively on the return the girls.
The Chibok girl’s parents spoke on the heels of the declaration of three persons wanted by the Nigerian Army over the recent video of the girls released by the insurgent group.
They said that the Army had failed to avail itself of the opportunities offered by the sensitive information at the disposal of some of the abducted girls, who have escaped from the captivity of the Boko Haram, to rescue the others still being held.
The Chairman of the parents of the abducted Chibok girls, Mr. Yakubu Nkeki, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone, faulted the military’s claim of not having enough information about the girls. Nkeki wondered why the Army decided to now declare three persons wanted over the video footages of the Chibok girls released on Saturday night by the Boko Haram sect.
While sobbing on the phone, he said, “When my daughter, Amina Nkeki, escaped from Sambisa forest last May, after spending more than two years in the evil forest, she furnished the military with adequate tips on how they could rescue her mates but they (military) decided to do what is suitable for them.
“I have advised them (the military) on many occasions that since they do not want to seek assistance from US government and other powerful countries, they should equip our local vigilantes that understand the terrain very well so that these girls could be rescued. We had to console ourselves at this critical time after watching the video. I think it is high time we had rescued our daughters with any means possible.”
“Let me tell you, the parents and relations of the abducted girls are angry. All we are saying is that only the release of our daughters can relieve our anguish. The grief and sorrow of our missing daughters are boldly written on our faces.”
Also speaking in the same vein, the spokesman for Chibok community, Dr. Manasseh
Allen, appealed to the Federal Government to urgently wake up from its slumber and rescue the Chibok girls from their abductors using all available means. Allen said, “This video is infuriating to us. We, as families, were left with the burden to prove to Nigerians in the early days of the abduction that it was true. Now, the parents are being blackmailed to stand in demand for the exchange of their daughters with Boko Haram terrorists captured and detained by Nigerian security forces. This is unfair and unacceptable.
“There is nothing in the video fundamentally different from what Amina Nkeki, who escaped in may this year from the terrorists’ captivity reported, at a time when the Federal Government said that there was no credible intelligence on the girls’ location and condition.
“Even after Amina briefed them on the fact that she and her colleagues have been in Sambisa all these two years plus, nothing changed in the tempo of response for their rescue or anything. Worse still, the government is trying to make the conditions sent out by Boko Haram through the video look like a new set of demand. No, it is not. That has been the same thing from the start.
“We demand that the Federal Government should quickly release whoever Boko Haram wants in exchange for the innocent girls, who were taken under government custody. These girls were only searching for education; they should be released to their parents.
