110 Girls Abandoned In Boko Haram’s Den – Chibok Community
Over 100 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram jihadists eight years ago in the northeast have been neglected by the government, Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) also known as Chibok Community has said.
The community said that the release of the remaining Abuja- Kaduna train attack victims last week revealed that the government has abandoned Chibok Community including their children that were abducted in the Secondary school Chibok.
Dozens of Boko Haram militants had stormed the Chibok girls’ boarding school in 2014 and packed 276 pupils, aged 12-17, at the time into trucks.
They said since the mass abduction of 276 of their daughters in April 2014, wherein 57 escaped (on their own) they still have 110 of them still unaccounted for.
The National President of KADA, Dauda Ndirpaya Iliya, told journalists that matter of the abducted Chibok girls and the unending attacks on their communities is still persisting.
He said: “The issue of the abandonment of the Chibok School Girls back has come forth again following the release of the remaining abducted train victims largely due to efforts of the Federal Government and especially the Military under the Chief of Defense Staff, Lucky Irabor.
“The statement, in particular, has caused the Chibok people pain and caused us despair and a deep feeling of neglect and abandonment by the federal government, ” Iliya said adding that despite not releasing their girls, the Chibok communities have been facing an unprecedented attack from terrorists.
“The latest attack in Chibok happened only on Oct 3, 2022, in Njlang, a village just 5 Km away from Chibok, ” Iliya said.
The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue Chibok Community, an ethnic nationality, from total annihilation by the Boko Haram Terrorists.
“The parents and the Community have continued to be subjected to persistent and sustained attacks, killings, abductions, maiming, arson and other myriads of criminality without adequate government protection. Chibok has been for all intents and purposes abandoned to its own devices by all layers of government in Nigeria.
“The government and the security agencies are handling the rehabilitation of the escaped/rescued girls without the involvement of the parents and publicly parading them to make statements that appear coercive without reuniting with their parents, ” the group said.
According to the group, “Right from late 2012 up to this time, the statistics of the state of damage and destruction of lives and property inflicted on the Community presents a worrisome and pathetic picture: Number of attacks: over 72; Persons killed: over 407; Persons abducted: over 332; Houses/businesses burnt: unquantifiable; Churches burnt: over 20; Vehicles stolen: many grains barns burnt or destroyed: unquantifiable.”
The association said from late 2018 to date, the frequency of attacks and level of destruction have escalated and are simply alarming.
“Just this year 2022 alone, Kautikari (the second largest town in Chibok area) was attacked on January 14 with 5 girls abducted, 3 persons killed, many houses and churches burnt, etc.
“In sustaining their carnage, Piyemi, another big town in the Chibok area, was attacked on January 20 with
19 persons (mostly girls) were abducted and one person, the Vigilante leader, was beheaded.
“The town was practically razed down and virtually all the recently harvested agricultural produce completely burnt down and/or looted. Chibok is predominantly an agrarian community and the whole year’s harvests have been lost to these sustained and targeted attacks posing serious food security concerns in the community.
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians and the President in particular, to rise up to the occasion and urgently save our people from total annihilation and starvation.
“Government should seek support to synergize with our security forces in confronting this menace so as to end the sustained carnage on our people.
“By doing so, we expect our remaining 110 daughters abducted in 2014 and numerous others subsequently abducted at different times to be brought back to us.
“We appeal to the Federal Government to immediately set up IDP Camps in Chibok town and provide Chibok with a skills acquisition centre so as to avoid imminent hunger/starvation in Chibok.
“We request the Federal government to order the deployment of more military personnel as well as better arms to Chibok to halt the continuous attacks on the community.
“We also appeal to our action Governor to do more in organizing and helping our people in securing our state in general and Chibok in particular, ” the group added.
