Pakistani national, Malala Yousafzai, has called on the federal government to do all it can to rescue the abducted school girls.
16-year-old Malala made the call while speaking with the Hausa
Service of the BBC saying that the government should know that it is
its responsibility to rescue the abducted school girls who were captured
on April 14 by members of Boko Haram sect.
She said, “I was depressed to hear the news that female schoolgirls
were abducted; the world should put all hands on deck to rescue the
innocent girls from the Boko Haram sect.“Female education is compulsory and their responsibility is on all tiers of government. Islam accepts female education and any person that is against that is not a true Muslim,” she said.
Malala is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist who was shot by the Taliban on Tuesday, October 9, 2012, while she was boarding a bus to school. A gunman asked for Malala by name, then pointed a Colt
45 at her and fired three shots. One bullet hit the left side of Malala’s forehead, travelled under her skin the length of her face and then into her shoulder.
The attack drew worldwide condemnation and sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Malala. She had been an activist for rights to education and for women, especially in Afghanistan.
Since the attempt on her life, Malala has become a symbol for girl education and she traverse the globe speaking for increased education for girls. She has risen in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu. She has won numerous prizes for her exemplary stance in pursuit of education.
Cameroun, Niger, Chad Behind Insurgency – Senators
Emotion ran high on the floor of the Senate yesterday as the senators took turns to bemoan the fate of the abducted female students of Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, Borno State. The girls were abducted on April 14.
Senators Mohammed Magor, Ahmed Zannah, Ali Ndume and Maji Maina Lawal pondered the harrowing experiences of the abducted girls, accusing the neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Niger and Chad of aiding and abetting the insurgency in the country.
The senators, who were returning from a recess, debated a motion sponsored by the leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba, and 108 others on the abduction of 234 female schoolchildren in Chibok on April 14, 2014, by the Boko Haram insurgents.
Some of the senators alleged internal sabotage within the security agencies deployed to the north-east region of the country to fight the Boko Haram terrorists. They lamented that the security operatives had failed to achieve the purpose for which they were sent there.
Sequel to the motion, however, the Senate urged the federal government and all security agencies to intensify efforts to immediately rescue the students. It also urged the federal government and the security agencies to seek the cooperation and aid of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations Organisation to deploy advanced technological measures, including dialogue, towards rescuing the abducted children safely.
Leading a debate on the motion, Senator Ndoma-Egba said, “The Senate notes with grief the inhuman abduction of secondary school girls in Chibok, Borno State, by alleged Boko Haram terrorists.
“Senate also notes that, just when the country was nursing its grief caused by the rush-hour bombing of a bus park in the nation’s capital, Abuja, which killed over 75 people and wounded dozens more, the country was struck yet with another devastating blow: the abduction of about 234 girls from their school in Chibok.
“Senate notes that on April 15, 2014, the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, was attacked when militants broke into the school, shooting the guards and abducting a large number of students in trucks into the Sambisa forest, a known hideout for the Boko Haram sect.
“The Senate is disappointed that, two weeks after their disappearance, the girls’ whereabouts are still unknown. And about 44 escaped by jumping from the back of the truck used to ferry them away or by sneaking out of the abductors’ camp deep inside the Sambisa forest.
“The Senate is hopeful that the offer of assistance by governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom to rescue the students would come with all the required technology including the deployment of the drones, which the United States had used to great positive effect to tracking/fighting terrorism elsewhere.”
Contributing to the motion, Senator Ahmad Zannah, representing Borno Central, informed the Senate that the insurgents had moved the girls to Cameroun and Chad, expressing pessimism on the ability of the security operatives to rescue the girls from their captors.
Zannah, who gave a graphic detail of the movement of the insurgents with the abducted girls, said that it was lack of willingness on the part of the military operatives to combat the insurgency that led to the escalation of the menace.
He told the Senate that he constantly furnished the security with information on the itinerary of the Boko Haram insurgents to enable forces track them down, but they never acted on his information: “I rise to adopt this motion passionately, based on the ages of the girls that were involved and the human lives that have suffered as a result of this unfortunate development. Since the beginning of this crisis, I have kept mute on this issue as far as press releases and press interviews are concerned.
“I have been constantly in touch with the security agencies, telling them the developments, the movement of the girls from one place to the other and then the splitting of the girls and eventually the marriage of these girls by the insurgents. What bothers me most is that whenever I inform them where these girls are, after two to three days, they would be moved from that place to another and, still, I would go back and inform them that, see, this is what is happening.
“I lost hope two days ago, when I found out that some of them were moved to Chad and Cameroon. Actually, some of them moved through the Mandara Mountain that is in Gwoza and some of them are just a stone’s throw from their barracks.
“It all depends on their willingness. If the state of emergency was extended… I was interviewed by the press on whether the military would succeed, and I said yes, if there was willingness, they would. Their number is not all that much as being touted and without cooperation from certain groups of people within the security agencies, there is no way these people would survive like this.
“But when we talk, they will say we are against them, we are exposing them, we are demoralising their troops. These are the facts. So unless there is spirit of seriousness on the part of our military, we have no hope of getting those girls. Even if we are going to get them, we are going to get them in trickles — maybe getting two, three, four, and five. They are now scattered. So it is not possible for us to get 50, 60,100 in one particular position. This is the position as at today.”
Also, senators Ayogu Eze, Kabiru Gaya, Ahmed Lawan, Nemadi Usman, Ganyiu Solomon, Mohammed Magoro and Ehigie Uzamere all expressed concern on the matter, calling on the government and the security agencies to put more effort in the raging battle against terrorism in the land.
6 killed in Adamawa attack
As the debate for or against the extension of emergency rule in Adamawa and other states intensified, about six persons were on Monday night killed when gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked Kubla village of Madagali local government area of Adamawa State, burning churches and private buildings.
Some residents of the affected village who fled the area claimed that they were attacked in the wee hours of Monday, even as the attackers operated unchallenged for hours.
The residents said that the gunmen stormed the area and used sophisticated weapons during the attack that lasted for hours.
We’re working to rescue abducted girls – DHQ
The Defence Headquarters has said that the security tactics being used by the military to rescue the abducted schoolgirls cannot be disclosed to everyone despite the criticism by Nigerians.
Defence spokesman Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade told the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that the security forces were working to track down the kidnappers of the final-year students of GGSS, Chibok, Borno State.
He said “The concern and anxiety from all quarters is quite understandable. Be assured that as much as the forces may not disclose details of action being taken to secure the freedom of the girls, every information received on the subject is duly analysed and acted upon as necessary.
“No information is being ignored in the concerted effort to ensure the safety and freedom of the girls. What we need from Nigerians is prayer for success”.
Borno women besiege NASS
Demand for the rescue of the abducted 234 students of GGSS, Chibok, reached a climax yesterday in Abuja as about 200 women under the aegis of the Women Wing of Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA), Abuja, besieged the National Assembly to register their grievances.
The women further demanded to see the Senate president, David Mark, and speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.
The protesters marched from Eagle Square to the National Assembly followed by armed policemen.
At the gate of the NASS, police operatives wanted to stop them from gaining access to the complex but the angry protesters defied all persuasions.
The arrival of the women group at the security post caused confusion among the policemen who shut the gate but quickly flung it open.
Addressing the protesters, Senator Barnabas Gemade, speaking on behalf of the Senate president, David Mark, said the Senate was not sleeping over the abduction.
Gemade said, “We are saddened by this development but because of this debate that is going on on the floor of the Senate, he (Senate president) has asked three of us to come here and assure you that the Senate is not sleeping; Senate is not reneging on its responsibility but is working very hard to ensure that something is done very urgently on this matter.
Senator Zainab Kure, who spoke in Hausa, said it was time for more action. She said that all necessary steps would be taken to intensify efforts to rescue the children.
The protesting women, dressed in black, carried placards which read: “Students Abducted: Parents Crying; Nigeria, We Depend on Your Strength; Save our Daughters, Please; A Vacuum Created, Help” and “Let The World Know That The Government Is Silent On Abducted Students”, among others.
The leader of the women, Mrs Naomi Nyadar, said they were dismayed at the level of effort being made by the government towards saving the lives of their children. “As far as we are concerned, we are not satisfied, so they should do more,” she said, adding that, at their own level, they have done anything within their limit to ensure that the government responded to their plights over the abduction of their children.
Chibok: Reps seek foreign assistance to free schoolgirls
The House of Representatives has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to seek foreign assistance to free the schoolgirls.
The lawmakers also summoned the country’s security service chiefs for a closed-door briefing on the abduction which has now attracted international attention. No date was announced for their appearance.
These were fallouts of a motion on the abductions sponsored by Hon. Peter Biye Gumtha (Borno/APC).
The attack and subsequent abductions in Chibok on April 14 have been attributed to the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
Gumtha told lawmakers that, two weeks after the schoolgirls were driven away from their boarding school in the middle of the night, parents are desperate for news of their daughters.
“Parents of the abducted girls are yet to receive any reliable information from the security agencies on the whereabouts of their children,” the lawmakers stated at Tuesday’s plenary.
Boko Haram Members Are Cowards – CAN
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has described the members of the Boko Haram sect as cowards of the highest order who engage in killing innocent people in the country.
The CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor who made this known during his visit to the headquarters of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) stated that the insurgents pretend to give impression that they are religious people, which they are not.
He said, “How can you go to motor parks and kill innocent people? If you are serious about war, should you kill innocent people, drivers and travellers? It is so wrong”.
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