The leader of #BringBackOurGirls campaign, Mrs Naomi Mutah may have been handed over to the police for impersonation, facts emerged on Monday.
A statement by Ayo Adewuyi, Media Assistant to the First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan, said she has no hand in the arrest of the woman, who has now been identified as a Deputy Director at the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) .
“We wish to state without any iota of equivocation that the First Lady did not order the arrest of any woman or any one for that matter before, during and after the meeting.
The Naomi Mutah mentioned in one of the reports came to the meeting as part of Borno delegation.
“The women were alarmed when someone who knew her told the meeting that she was impersonating one of the mothers of the allegedly abducted children on the basis for which she attended the meeting,” Adewuyi said.
Mrs. Mutah, who led about 500 women on a protest to National Assembly over the abduction of over 200 secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State, also attended a meeting with the First Lady on Monday but registered her name as Mrs Grace.
According to the First Lady, Mrs Mutah had claimed she was one of the parents whose children were abducted at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
Mrs. Jonathan said: “When they said they have come to lay complain to the government and the National Assembly, I asked for the leader of the mothers whose children were abducted, this woman was the one that came forward and said that her child was abducted. I believed her and I asked the Women Affairs Minister to follow her to the National Assembly.”
“This is the woman who went to National Assembly with the women in black and she claimed that her child was missing and that she is the leader of parents that their children are missing in Chibok. Senate President believed them, even me believed them.
“God is leading us to the truth. Our coming out is not in vain. She called people like Oby to follow her as they also believed her. Oby is innocent and I don’t blame her because even me as
First Lady, I was moved.”
“Today, when I sighted her, I say within myself that we will get to the conclusion today because one of those whose child is missing is here. But to my greatest surprise, when we asked her, she said she is a representative. She wrote down her name as Grace. A whole civil servant impersonating, she should be arrested for impersonation.”
Facing the Borno Commissioner of Police who was also at the meeting, the First Lady said: “You have to take this woman to I.G. and the President.”
Mrs Mutah was said to have admitted that she had no child among the abducted children after being quizzed. She was said to have also disclosed that she was contacted to represent one of those persons expected to attend the meeting at the First Lady’s conference room.
The leader of the #BringBackourGirlssaid: “It was in the morning that somebody called me from Borno State, one Mrs. Grace. She said that she was supposed to come. But that since we are here as Chibok representatives, that we should come and represent her here. I have not gone to Chibok in the past one year.”
The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Zainab Maina also gave her account of the perceived impersonation, “I saw this lady and two others on Tuesday. My deputy director came into my office and said you are talking about going to Chibok, mothers of those abducted girls from Chibok are here and they are in Eagles Square.
“When I asked them if they are mothers from Chibok, they said yes. I asked them where their destination is, and they said National Assembly and Villa.”
“I said no, you can’t come to Villa, may be National Assembly. I followed them to National Assembly to listen to what they wanted to tell the legislators. I sat to the end until they finished and I then asked them for the leader of the delegation.
“She came forward and I asked her where are the girls from Chibok, how many of them and if she could give me the names of the girls and she said that they were not
from Chibok and that they are based in Abuja.”
“I shouted oh my God, you have killed me. If I know you are from Abuja, I won’t waste my time to come here and talk to you. Later on somebody made enquiries and my Permanent Secretary took her phone number and name and she is a deputy director in NDE. I was really
angry with them and walked out from the place.
“What surprise me again is the gut she has to come here (Presidential Villa) just by mere phone call from somebody in Borno State to represent her.
“This is not a market place, this meeting is a very official meeting aimed at
resolving this problem of abduction. It is not for everybody to come, I don’t know who gave you the invitation.”
At this point, the First Lady wondered if truly the children are missing, saying “So my sisters you can all see that within them they know what they are doing. With what is happening now, will you believe that any children got missing?
“So, we the Nigerian women are saying that no child is missing in Borno state. If any child is missing, let the governor go and look for them. There is nothing we can do again.
“We will now go spiritual. What we women should pray for now is the killings in Borno to stop. God will reveal them one by one. The blood of the innocent victims will come out and speak.”
