Chibok Girls: Speed Up Return Of Remaining 195 Girls, Ezekwesili Tells Buhari
By Teddy Nwanunobi, Abuja
ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Shortly after their return from a tour of the Sambisa Forest, co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) advocacy group, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to “speed up the return of the (remaining) 195 Chibok girls” that are still being held by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
It would be recalled that 276 female students were kidnapped from a boarding school in Chibok, Borno State on the night of 14/15 April, 2014.
The abduction of the 276 girls sparked global outrage a #BringBackOurGirls campaign on social media.
On Monday, January 16, 2017, led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, three members of the BBOG departed the Air Force base at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Hercules C130 air craft (with some local and foreign journalists) on a ‘guided tour’ of the Sambisa Forest war zone.
The BBOG team included Ezekwesili; Chair, BBOG Strategic Team, Aisha Yesufu; and a member of the BBOG Sit-out, Ibrahim Usman.
They were joined by a representative of the Chibok Community and an uncle to some of the abducted girls, Manasseh Allen.
On their return from the guided tour, Ezekwesili, Yesufu, Usman and Allen co-signed a report titled: Special Report by the #BringBackOurGirls Movement,Following the Return of Four of its Members as Part of the Federal Government, Local and Foreign Media Guided Tour of the Sambisa Forest War Zone.
The report, which was released on Friday, disclosed, amongst other things, that the troop, led by the NAF, has spent more than N2.4 billion on fuel in the last 18 months, carrying out its search operations of the Sambisa Forest for the missing Chibok girls and other abducted citizens.
“The data sheet showing the summary of all search operations was displayed with the following key data points over the last eighteen months by NAF; total missions to Sambisa general area – 2,105; number of sorties – 3,534; time/hour of flight – 6,323 (and) fuel cost – over N2.4 billion,” the report read in part.
Not done with the report, Ezekwesili took to her Twitter account, @obyezeks, on Saturday morning to demand the speedy return of the remaining 195 girls.
The demand, which was directed at Buhari, demanded that the President, who is currently on sick leave in London, warned that Buhari should “act now” without further excuses.
“Sadly DAY1013 of our #ChibokGirls abduction.
Pre @MBuhari
No More Excuses!
No More Delays!!
Decide Now!!
Act Now!!
We Want More Results!!!
“Pre @MBuhari @BBOG_Nigeria has visited Sambisa with our @NigAirForce .It’s TIME to SPEED up the return of the rest of OUR #195 #ChibokGirls!,” she said in two separate tweets.