The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement has once more expressed extreme
\ndisappointment in President Muhammadu Buhari over his handling of the
\nChibok girls issue.<\/p>\n
BBOG in a statement issued during a special sit-out in Abuja on Friday,
\n8th July, insisted that the Buhari administration has not met any of its
\ndemands, one year after they met with him to discuss the way forward.<\/p>\n
The statement signed by Dr Oby Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu, painfully
\nrecalled that “on 8th July 2015, the#BringBackOurGirls movement, parents
\nof our abducted #ChibokGirls and representatives of the Chibok community
\nhad an engagement with the President as a matter of necessity to establish
\nfacts, the urgency of their cause and dispel misconceptions about the
\nmovement, especially considering the treatment it allegedly received from
\nthe preceding administration”.<\/p>\n
Pointblanknews.com recalls that part of the submissions to the President,
\nwere proposed solutions to end terrorism, Verification, Authentication and
\nReunification System (VARS).<\/p>\n
In their words, BBOG said: \u201cWe proposed that a team be tasked with the
\ncredible implementation of VARS. The primary task of the team was to work
\nwith every abducted victim\u2019s family and community to accurately ascertain
\nthe true identity of such individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing their accurate identification, the comprehensive program for
\nRecovery, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Reintegration was to be made
\navailable to them. It was also supposed to entail the setting up of a
\nMissing Persons\u2019 Register.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe requested that the President direct relevant Government
\nrepresentatives to work with the BBOG Family to commence work immediately
\non an Accountability Matrix, which will define the protocol for obtaining
\nand sharing information with citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also suggested a monthly meeting between security operatives and
\ncommunity stakeholders in communities most affected by these acts of
\nviolence e.g. Chibok, Gwoza and Bama. We believed at that time that it
\nwould encourage much needed collaboration and information sharing to
\nbridge the identified communication gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe requested that the President direct the establishment of a Commission
\ncharged with the task of transparently investigating and reporting on the
\nsecurity lapses that caused their successful abduction and the operational
\nleadership failures that led to their long captivity in terrorist
\nenclave”, BBOG maintained.<\/p>\n
Equally, the group at that moment demanded for a Commissison that would
\nreview the allegations of corruption within the security services that has
\nhindered its capacity to perform effectively just as it requested that the
\nPresident direct that the Report of the Presidential Fact Finding
\nCommittee of the Chibok Girls and the Presidential Committee on Security
\nChallenges in the North East be made public immediately.<\/p>\n
Moreso, BBOG suggested that the Government begin, in earnest, a holistic
\nprocess of proper sensitization and enlightenment to curb this trend of
\nyouth radicalization and extremism. The BBOG Family indicated willingness
\nto work with the Government to design the programme.<\/p>\n
The rest of the statement reads: \u201cWe departed with the hope of re-engaging
\nthe administration towards setting clear timelines and deliverables for
\nthe five requests. A year later, it is extremely disappointing that none
\nof the five demands has been completed. Specifically, a failure to
\nimplement VARS means we still do not have a cohesive system of identifying
\nliberated citizens or even a database of those affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to an initial partnership between the#BringBackOurGirls movement
\nand the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a coalition of Government
\nAgencies led by the NHRC has begun the initial processes towards the
\nestablishment of a National Missing Persons\u2019 Register. We acknowledge
\nthis, but ask that the work is fast-tracked and completed for the benefit
\nof displaced Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cA year after our engagement and close to six months since the President
\ndirected the setting up of a committee to carry out investigation into the
\nabduction of our girls, we read of an approval of the members of the
\ncommittee. Again the lack of urgency in the dispatch of responsibilities
\ntowards the rescue of our girls is alarming.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this rate, it begs the questions \u2013 when will the committee be
\nconstituted? When will they be mobilized to start work? What time line
\nwill they work with and the reports submitted? Under what timeline will
\nthe government study and act on the report? What does this mean for our
\nChibok Girls who do not have the luxury of time and whose plight worsens
\nwith every passing hour, minute and second?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe non-release of the Report of the Presidential Fact Finding Committee
\nof the Chibok Girls and the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges
\nin the North East is also unacceptable. We demand an immediate release of
\nthese reports as their importance for lessons learned about the abductions
\nand insurgency in general cannot be overemphasized.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe reiterate our position that sensitive areas with implications for
\nnational security as repeatedly mentioned can be blotted out of the public
\ndocument. Global best practice supports this. These lessons learned while
\nproviding information to the public will justify the need for expenditure
\nof public resources, provide metrics for scrutiny and acceptance of the
\nnew report and factual evidence for the prosecution of all benefactors of
\nthe diversion of funds for arms procurement\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement has once more expressed extreme disappointment in President Muhammadu Buhari over his handling of the Chibok girls issue. BBOG in a statement issued…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n