4th anniversary of Chibok abduction, Buhari assures of return of 112 girls

Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari has assured parents of the remaining missing Chibok school girls that the government is doing all it takes to secure their freedom. He said parents should keep hope alive that the 112 girls still being held captive will be released when conditions are right.

Buhari, who is in the United Kingdom to participate in the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting assured the parents that: their daughters will never be forgotten or abandoned to their fate, despite four long years since they were taken away by terrorists.

His comments on Friday was hours to the commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the abduction of 200 plus girls at the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok located in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State.

As long as I remain the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the Chibok girls will NEVER be forgotten. Everything possible will be done to have them reunited with their families.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) April 13, 2018

“We are concerned and aware that it is taking long to bring the rest of our daughters back home, but be assured that this administration is doing its very best to free the girls from their captors.

“Unfortunately, the negotiations between the government and Boko Haram suffered some unexpected setbacks, owing mainly to a lack of agreement among their abductors, whose internal differences have led to a divergence of voices regarding the outcome of the talks.

“We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you. However, this government is not relenting. We will continue to persist, and the parents should please not give up.

“Don’t give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again. Don’t lose faith in this government’s ability to fulfill our promise of reuniting you with our daughters. Don’t imagine for a moment that we have forgotten about our daughters or that we consider their freedom a lost course,’’ the President said.

Over 200 school girls were abducted by insurgent group Boko Haram from their boarding school in 2014. Records indicate that 57 of managed to escape soon after the incident. One girl was found by the Civilian Joint Taskforce in May 2017.

Two batches of releases have been reached between the government and the terrorists with the aid of the Red Cross and Swiss government as intermediaries. In October before another 82 were freed on May 2017.

Another girl was found in early January leaving 112 others in captivity four years on. Their abduction birthed the advocacy group Bring Back Our Girls who continue to pile pressure on government to rescue the remaining girls.