The #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group had revealed that it plans to formally re-engage the federal government in the coming weeks following its inability to fulfil the demands of the group.
While briefing the press at the normal sit-out of the group yesterday, chairperson of the strategic team of the group, Aisha Yesufu stated that the group was extremely disappointed that none of the five demands they have presented to President Muhammadu Buhari during its visit, July 8 2015 have been completed.
“On 8th July 2015, the #BringBackOurGirls movement, parents of our abducted #ChibokGirls and representatives of the Chibok community had an engagement with the new President, Muhammadu Buhari. This was necessitated by the need to establish fact, the urgency of our cause and dispel misconceptions about our movement, especially considering the treatment we had received from the preceding administration. At the time of that engagement, our 219 girls had been in captivity for 450 days and the President acknowledged government failure with regards to the rights of our girls and victims of the insurgency,” she said.
Yesufu stated that the demands which among other things, include the implementation of the Verification, Authentication and Reunification(VARS) document which it said will help the comprehensive program for Recovery, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Reintegration of victims of the insurgency.
“We also wanted the President to direct relevant Government representatives to work with the BBOG Family to commence work immediately on an Accountability Matrix, which will define the protocol for obtaining and sharing information with citizens.
“We requested that the President direct the establishment of a Commission charged with the task of transparently investigating and reporting on the security lapses that caused their successful abduction and the operational leadership failures that led to their long captivity in terrorist enclave.
“We requested that the President direct that the Report of the Presidential Fact Finding Committee of the Chibok Girls and the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North East be made public immediately.
“We suggested that the Government begin, in earnest, a holistic process of proper sensitization and enlightenment to curb this trend of youth radicalization and extremism. The BBOG Family indicated willingness to work with the Government to design the programme,” she said.
Yesufu however stated that though over the last year, the Nigerian army has worked hard which had resulted in the liberation of large numbers of communities, opening up of access routes within the North East and the return of a ChibokGirl Amina Ali Nkeki, its demands during that visit were not fufilled.
“This morning, a year after our engagement and close to six months since the President directed the setting up of a committee to carry out investigation into the abduction of our girls, we read of an approval of the members of the committee. Again the lack of urgency in the dispatch of responsibilities towards the rescue of our girls is alarming.
“At this rate, it begs the questions – when will the committee be constituted? When will they be mobilized to start work? What timeline will they work with and the reports submitted? Under what timeline will the government study and act on the report? What does this mean for our Chibok Girls who do not have the luxury of time and whose plight worsens with every passing hour, minute and second?
“The non-release of the Report of the Presidential Fact Finding Committee of the Chibok Girls and the Presidential Committee on Security Challenges in the North East is also unacceptable,” she said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment