No fewer than 17 of the parents of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls have died as a result of trauma associated with the abduction, the Coordinator of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, movement in Lagos State, Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode, said.
Recall that 276 schoolgirls were abducted in a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram Islamist sect on April 14, 2014.
Mrs Oyebode made the disclosure at the weekend during the 4th anniversary of the girls’ abduction, with the theme: “Four years too long,” an event marked with Christian and Muslim prayers.
She said though some of the girls had regained freedom, the fact that 112 of the girls were still with Boko Haram was unacceptable.
“While we are not unaware of the efforts made so far by government of Nigeria in securing the release of 103 girls from captivity, four years is too long and totally unacceptable
“In fact, on May 14, 2017, we were expecting 83 girls. On May 6, only 82 agreed to board the plane to freedom.
“That still haunts me till today. Saraya Paul whose father told me as far back as October 2015, that ‘God has blessed me with eight children and they are all obedient but none has honoured me as much as Saraya.’
“Saraya offered to remain with her captors. We have failed these children and continue to fail their families,” she said.
Mrs Oyebode, daughter of the assassinated Head of State, Muritala Ramat Muhammed, while speaking, opined that it was a tragic reflection of the Nigerian society’s desensitization to evil.
She said, “The abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls and Dapchi schoolgirls is an attack on the soul of Nigeria.
“The kidnapping of innocent girls from school is totally unacceptable and we demand collective action to fight this monster in Nigeria.
“The rights of children, women and girls must be provided for, protected and promoted as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
