Over 20 Chibok parents die waiting in vain for release of their girls from Boko Haram custody

By NJADVARA MUSA, Maiduguri

Community laments delay in release of remaining 112

Over 20 parents of the secondary school girls abducted seven years ago in Chibok, Borno State, have died from health complications induced by the protracted wait for the return of their children.

Strategic team member of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, Allen Manasseh, stated this in a chat with Arise TV yesterday. On April 4, 2014, over 300 girls were taken captive from Government Secondary School in Chibok by Boko Haram. Till date, 112 of the girls are still missing.

Manasseh accused the government of doing the minimum to address the concerns of the parents, demanding that the matter be moved to the office of the vice president.

“The level of engagement with the parents should change. There’s no date on the issue of rescue. We have over 20 parents that died already from blood pressure-related complications,” he said.

ALSO, the Chibok community under the Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) has lamented that 112 schoolgirls are still with the terrorists, noting that their rescue is no longer a priority for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The community reminded Buhari of his promise during his inauguration in May 2015 that: “We cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.”

In a statement, yesterday, to commemorate the seven years of the abduction, the community noted the inaction of the Federal Government over the girls as a painful reminder that the administration did not value their lives.

Manasseh, who is also KADA’s Director of Media and Publicity, said: “The fate of the missing 112 Chibok girls and many other abducted victims of terrorism, banditry and continuing trauma of Chibok parents is slipping from public consciousness and are no longer a priority for the Federal Government; this is unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has said the schoolgirls and other abductees will be safely rescued Zulum stated yesterday that, as a father, he could not imagine the pains of having a daughter held by terrorists for as long as seven years. He urged prayers for the girls and everyone in abduction and for peace to be permanently restored in Borno.

“However, I urge parents, especially anyone with a female child, to pause for while, no matter how brief, to imagine how it might feel to have one’s daughter abducted and held for more than 2,549 days so far. Imagine how parents and relations of these girls have been feeling in each of these days.

“Certainly, the mental torture of not knowing the fate of one’s daughter in the hands of Boko Haram is far worse than losing a child,” he said. (The Guardian)