ABUJA – The Abuja #BringBackOurGirls rally in Abuja Sunday afternoon was exceptional. A former minister of FCT, Dr. Aliyu Modobbo, in his solidarity message said the insurgency is a concerted attempt to re-introduce slavery into Nigeria and that Nigerians must all come out and struggle against slavery.
There was also a message was from the Senator for Borno South, Alhaji Mohammed Ali Ndume. He said that he had been falsely accused of being a financier of Boko Haram. He came with two of his younger sisters, both of whom are Christians. He added that their mother died as the regional women’s leader of the COCIN Church; that family is equally divided between Christians and Muslims, so how could he sponsor a group that is trying to kill his own mother and sisters. He also came with his wife whose elder brother had been killed by the terrorists. Terrorism, he explained has no religion or tribe, they are criminals out to kill.
He congratulated the organisers of the rally for giving hope not only to his senatorial district which has been suffering so much from terrorism but to all Nigerians – that terrorism can be combated. “Precisely because of this, we must resist the trivialisation and tribalisation of the phenomenon by certain forces”, he said. He added that in his area, the civilian JTF has been more effective that the security agencies in resisting the insurgency. Finally, he informed the rally that 276 girls remained missing while 53 have escaped from their captors and returned.
The Rally took the following decisions today:
1) On Tuesday, the Movement will march to the office of the Minister of Defence and that of the Chief of Defence Staff to brief them on our concerns and seek a detailed briefing on the state of field operations.
2) The Movement noted the decision of Government to close schools and government officers next week and concluded that the move should be understood as the creation of an opportunity for students and workers to be free from normal duties to join the #BringBackOurGirls rallies and marches. All are invited to take this opportunity offered by Government to join the Movement.
3) The four task forces established by the Movement – mobilisation and outreach, resources, media and communications, and legal, met and drew up their detailed plans of action to achieve set objectives.
4) Finally, the Movement leaders and volunteers called on all workers and students in the FCT to accept government closure of schools and offices so that they could come out and join the struggle. The Movement reconvenes on Monday, 3pm at Unity Fountain, Abuja.