#BringBackOurGirls Movement Calls Out Government On Failure To Learn From Past Incidents

The #BringBackOurGirls movement has accused the Federal Government of failing to learn from the previous abduction incidents of the Chibok schoolgirls in 2014 and the Dapchi girls in 2018.

These failures led to the most recent incident of the mass abduction of the Kankara schoolboys in Katsina State which occurred on Friday, it said.

The members of the movement, including Aisha Yesufu and Oby Ezekwesili, in a statement on Tuesday also addressed the conflicting numbers of abductees between the state and federal government.

The group also accused President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration of failure to secure the lives of citizens as well as a show of indifference by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation.

“Characteristic of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has yet again failed the #KankaraBoys,” it said.

The continuation of the seemingly endless nightmare of the string of school-children abductions, including the 112 #ChibokGirls, and #LeahSharibu, still unaccounted for is unacceptable while the Buhari-led government continues to play the role of an ostrich with the security and lives of citizens, it said.

‘Has President Buhari not learned anything about securing our children in the theater of war? His indifference to the plight of citizens is the trademark of the failed leadership of his administration,” the group said.

The Federal Government had previously claimed to have “technically defeated” Boko Haram, who claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the Kankara schoolboys, yet have continued to unleash mayhem in the Northeast, being their main stronghold, and by all indications have now begun moving towards the Northwest, putting more regions of the North in further risk of heightened insurgency, the BBOG group also stated.

“The recent audio recording that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in Katsina State is a clear indication that the group is alive and well and are now moving west given the failure of the government to stop their reign of terror in the Northeast,” BBOG said.

The fact that the president has also yet to visit Kankara to sympathise with the families despite being only miles away in his hometown of Daura also did not go amiss, it said.

“Utterly distasteful is the fact that the President is on the ground in Katsina State and has not deemed the meeting of the disconsolate parents the right course of action. This speaks of his cynicism and cold indifference; it is urgent that our country change the narrative of catastrophes met by indifferent presidents,” BBOG started.

“The first 48 hours are crucial in the rescue of abductees. Three days after the abduction of the #KankaraBoys, the window of successful and timely rescue becomes increasingly difficult.

“The lack of urgency by both state and the federal government is disturbing; how much longer do parents have to grieve over the unknown whereabouts of the children they sent to school?”

The BBOG movement made a five point demand from Buhari, including the immediate action with the use of all available resources to bring back the Kankara boys, Chibok Girls and Leah Sharibu, protection of all those protesting, including the parents of the abducted children, and a direct channel of communication between the parents on all efforts made in rescuing the children.

The group also demanded the “implementation of the Safe School Initiatives that caters to the prevention of these occurrences while safeguarding the rights of children to an education and an immediate sack of the service chiefs and the review of the security architecture of the country given the rising cases of insecurity and banditry.”

The movement also urged the government to engage all regional and international stakeholders, especially the U.S., in deploying necessary security resources to win the war against terror and banditry.

Since the abduction incident, the Katsina State government and the military have stated ongoing land and air deployment in search for the boys but the efforts have not yielded results.