Parents of the over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist sect, Boko Haram in April 2014, have appealed to the United Nations to wade in and help rescue their daughters.
This is coming after the parents declared that they had lost hope in the Federal Government’s efforts at rescuing the girls. The parents on Thursday lampooned the Federal Government for not doing enough to rescue the girls, even as they accused the government of having a hand in the abduction.
They said they were appealing directly to the United Nations for help after losing hope that the Nigerian government would rescue them.
Though the parents said the UN was their last resort, it is not clear what any agency of the UN can do without the approval of the Nigerian government. The UN has previously condemned the abduction of the girls and urged government to ensure that they are rescued.
Speaking during a special New Year Day media engagement session organised by the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group at the Unity Fountain Abuja, the spokesperson of the community, Mr Dauda Iliya, said the appeal to the UN had become necessary due to the fact that more than eight months after the girls’ abduction, they were still in the hands of their abductors.
“We want to go to the United Nations. We need to go within and outside the Chibok community for help. We need to go to the United Nations to compel government to own up to its responsibility,” he said.
He challenged the government to reveal the truth about the state of the rescue mission of the abducted school girls, if any, adding that the entire members of Chibok community and the parents of the girls were in anguish, waiting for any news on their girls.
“There are so many untruths. We will hold the government accountable for the lies they have been telling us about the girls. They told us that they saw the girls. We demand that they tell us where the girls are and what they are doing about their rescue,” Iliya added.
The Chibok spokesperson urged the people of Chibok to see the battle for the rescue of the girls as a collective one, hence the need for all of them to get involved.
“We should stand up for our right. The Chibok people should stand on their feet and advocate the release of the girls. Stand up and fight. We believe that the engagement between the president and the abducted girls’ parents was only a photo show. Nothing has come out of this visit. We need to ask questions,” he added.
Iliya further called on the government to protect the community and the Northeast from insurgency, noting that many people displaced by the Boko Haram sect wished to return to their states.
“We forcefully demand for the security of the Chibok people. We demand that we are protected. We are in the political season and we want to try to make the issue of the Chibok girls a political issue. We need to engage government,” he said.
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