As the nation marks the 10th anniversary of the abductions of the Chibok girls by the Boko Haram insurgents, the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has called on the Federal Government to rethink how the remaining victims could be rescued and institute greater measures to ensure that the schools are safe for students to learn.
The party reckoned that on April 14, 2014, 276 girls were abducted in Chibok Government School, out of which 89 were still not accounted for even as reports claimed some of them were already married to their captors and others escaped or were confirmed dead.
A statement in Abuja by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson made available to Tribune Online in Abuja on Sunday said despite the global grief and condemnation which trailed the sad incident, there had been more abductions of school children which has heightened the insecurity in the country.
“The NNPP finds the situation very worrisome. Even as the trauma of the Chibok girls remains a huge tragedy. We have since witnessed more horrible incidents in school children kidnapping in our schools which is unfortunate.”
The statement while acknowledging the government’s efforts at rescuing some of the girls and others in similar adoptions, however, called on the government to further evolve measures that can help to locate and rescue the remaining girls from their captors no matter the circumstances.
“These girls must not be so forgotten. Many are still in captivity without any clear information about their situation. We can only appreciate the trauma and gruesome nature of their abduction and what they and their parents are going through even now. This should count in the action of the government in particular and as a reflection of our common humanity. Yet, for those rescued, how are they being rehabilitated? How are they fairing now? How effective, including a good idea of the “Safe School Programmes?
“So as we remember the agony of the Chibok girls at 10, the concern is how those still in captivity can be rescued, how the more than 20 million out-of-school girls can be tackled and indeed how the government can effectively make the recurring challenge of insecurity a thing of the past or at least drastically reduced in view of its effects on the nation’s socio-economic development,” the statement concluded.
The Chibok situation, according to the NNPP, remains a gruesome memory to the parents and relatives of the abducted girls as well as the entire nation.
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