ABUJA – Operatives of Nigeria Police on Tuesday prevented protesting members of the #BringBackOurGirls Campaign from entering the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to protest.
The team led by a former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, was not allowed to get close to the first gate of the Aso Rock.
However, the protesters sat on the road guarded by armed policemen. The #BringBackOurGirls team later issued a statement jointly signed by Aisha Yesufu and Oby Ezekwesili, demanding immediate rescue of the Chibok Girls.
The team took a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari for not doing enough to rescue the Chibok girls, saying President Buhari’s statement on effort to rescue the girls lacks “conviction and decisiveness.”
“We acknowledge that since our march of the 25th August 2016, a statement was made by Mr. President in far-away Kenya, on the side-lines of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI).
“In the said statement as reported by the media, Mr. President suggested a willingness to swap our #ChibokGirls for Boko Haram fighters preferring that the terrorists engaged an international Non-Governmental Organization in the intermediation process if they so wish.
“His words as reported were, “[I]f they [the terrorists] do not want to talk to us directly, let them pick an internationally recognized Non-Governmental Organization, convince them that they are holding the girls and that they want Nigeria to release a number of Boko Haram leaders in detention, which they are supposed to know.”
“We fail to understand why our Federal Government is giving so much powers to determine process and first mover actions to the terrorists. We have always maintained that the President has the powers to assemble ALL RELEVANT INTELLIGENCE ASSETS required for determining the best action in terms of LOWEST RISK OPTION.
“Many countries with superior capabilities have indicated willingness to help our Government gather security and intelligence assets on this and other related North East challenges.
“We were therefore extremely shocked to read Mr. President state that “[S]ome of the information about the division in Boko Haram is already in the press and I have read it in the papers about the conflict in their leadership”.
“Are we right to conclude from that statement that our President merely relies on newspaper reports like the rest of the Nigerian public for information on such an important and monumental tragedy? This is a grave basis for concern to our movement.
“So, while we welcome the statement, we counter that it sounds too tentative and lacking of the conviction, decisiveness, strong ownership, and urgent actions required to #BringBackOurGirls.
“This tragedy must no longer be allowed to linger any further! It is time to act with the fiercest urgency and the authority that must lead this action is our President, Commander – in-Chief – of-the-Armed-Forces.
The group therefore, restated its demands among others “That Mr. President must swiftly make a firm decision for their immediate rescue based on the three available options. 1. Military operation 2. Negotiation with the terrorists. 3. Combination of 1 and 2. Mr. President, Act Now!”
