Chibok Girls Kidnap: Activist Tasks Nigerian Govt To Live Up To Its Responsibility.          

Ogbonna Emeka Chibuzo

As the world celebrates the international Day of the Girl child last weekend, an activist and leader of a Pro-democracy group, Agenda for New Nigeria (ANN), Comrade Ogbonna Emeka Chibuzo, has criticized the Nigerian government for abandoning the remaining 112 Chibok girls who are still in the custody of Boko Haram terrorist group after more than 2000 days that they were kidnapped.

According to Comrade Ogbonna “the primary responsibility of government is protection of lives of its citizens. I’m sure the story would have been different if those kidnapped girls are children of politicians.  The lives of every Nigerian matters, not only the lives of the rich.

“It is sad to note that over 20 parents of the girls in captivity have died from heart attacks and grief related ailments, occasioned by pains inflicted on them as a result of the kidnap”, he said.

He continued ” Government has all the powers at its disposal to ensure their release. They have options available to them, be it negotiation or by the use of force. Government should deploy same mechanism it used for the release of the girls that have been freed by Boko Haram”.

“If it were children of the rich that were kidnapped, would government not have moved mountains to bring them back?” He queried.

“The kidnapped Chibok girls have been in the custody of their abductors (Boko Haram) for more than 2000 days, and I want to use this opportunity to remind government of the President’s inaugural speech in May 2015, where he alluded to the fact that government cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents”.

“As the world observes today to mark the International Day of the Girl child, I want to call on the Nigerian government to live up to its responsibility by doing everything within its power to ensure the remaining Chibok girls, still in captivity, are rescued alive and reunited with their families”, he concluded.