Olalekan Adetayo, Oluwatosin Omojuyigbe and Dogara Bitrus
One of the released Chibok girls on Wednesday lamented that the Federal Government was silent on the release of their colleagues still in the captivity of Boko Haram.
The student, identified as Tabitha Stover, while speaking at the seventh anniversary of the kidnapping hosted by the Allamin Foundation in Maiduguri, Borno State, said the Federal Government’s silence was killing them.
The student, who noted that their lives had not remained the same since the incident happened, urged the Federal Government to come to their rescue.
She said, “I passed through hell, thank God I am back but many are still in captivity, I am appealing to the government to please come to their rescue.
“My President, our ministers, our senators, our governors, please we are pleading, don’t we have right to life? Don’t we have the right to education? Then if we right to education, why are we suffering, why are others still in captivity, if we have the right to life, why are we facing this, why are our parents dying silently and our government are still looking at us like this and they are not talking?
“Please our parents are still dying; they don’t have anyone to help. A commoner like me does not have an answer to these question, but I know that our governors, our president have the answers to these question but you’re still silent, please are we not a citizen of this country? Let us know that we are slaves.
“Put yourself in our shoes, how will you feel, if we are your children or some that are still in captivity are your children; if you put yourself in our shoes, how will you feel.
“I am not challenging our leaders, I will never do such a thing, but please if our government are silent, so who will answer the question among you that are sitting here. If our governors and president are silent, who will answer these questions, please do not be silent to us because this your silence is killing us and that is why we are saying that we need freedom, we are tired of bondage, we are sick and tired of all this.”
Release of remaining Chibok girls in progress
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Wednesday said the release of the remaining Chibok girls was work in progress.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement titled, ‘Chibok girls still in our minds -Presidency.’
Shehu called on Nigerians to continue to remember the nation’s military in their prayers.
The statement read, “The Presidency reassures parents and all concerned citizens that the missing students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, remain constantly on the minds of government as they are always on the minds of their parents.
“The Presidency gives assurances that the release of the remaining Chibok girls is still work in progress.
“No one is giving up hope here. Efforts to secure their release through various channels and activities of the security and intelligence agencies remain on course.
“The recent decisive push by the military against the terrorists gives hope that a breakthrough is possible and could happen anytime soon.”