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Chibok Schoolgirls spend 45 days in Sambisa Forest

+Timeline of the pathetic incident

BOKO HARAM SET TO RELEASE SCHOOL GIRLS

Notorious terrorist sect, Boko Haram, made a proposal to the Federal Government, which could see them release up to half of the Chibok schoolgirls currently in their den since April 14, 2014.

The sect demanded for the release of their top commanders detained in various prisons across the country, in exchange for the gradual release of the girls.

According to reports, efforts are being made behind the scenes to secure the safe release of the abducted students with an argument reached in principle to release some of the hostages gradually.

Reports also revealed that contrary to the public announcement, there are on-going on the ground talk taking place.

Monday, May 19, 2014

GOV. SHETTIMA APPROVES N150 MILLION FOR REHABILITATION OF ESCAPED GIRLS

Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, on Monday, May 19, 2014, announced that the sum of N150 million has been approved to fund the rehabilitation programme for the 53 girls that escaped, and to support parents in Chibok whose source of livelihood have been truncated by their trauma.

He said this when the presidential fact finding committee on the abduction of the 276 girls visited him at the Government House in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The governor said that the state government remained very optimistic about the missing girls regarding their freedom. He also revealed that the state government was already in touch with key international organization, and that a plan of action had already been proposed by the state’s Ministry of Health on issues relating to the well-being of the 53 girls who escaped as well as the abducted ones as soon as they are freed.

Meanwhile, the governor said that doubts expressed by some persons over the abduction story pained him more than the abduction itself.

It would be recalled that the women leader of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs. Kema Chikwe, erstwhile Niger Delta militant leader, Asari Dokubo, among others, expressed varying degrees of doubts over the abduction. But he said he was deeply pained by such development.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

WIKE INDICTS BORNO STATE GOVERNOR FOR CHIBOK ABDUCTION

The supervising Minister of Education, Chief Wike, insisted that Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, should bear the blame for the abduction of over 200 girls from the Government Secondary School, Chibok by Boko Haram members.

According to the minister, the governor failed to heed to a written advice from his ministry not to conduct Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in the troubled areas due to the persistent security challenges.

The minister, in a statement on Tuesday, May 20, 2014, by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakandu, made the charge against the governor while addressing the delegates of the first conference of certified librarians in Abuja.

It would be recalled that West African Examination Council (WAEC) made a similar charge against the the governors of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on the need for the relocation of students for the SSCE because of the security situation in the three states, but none of the state governors replied the letter.

Wike added that his disclosure was hinged on the necessity to make the world aware of the true situation of things, and called on the governor not to politicize the abduction of the girls.

ISRAEL SENDS TWO ANTI-TERROR EXPERTS TO HELP FIND CHIBOK ABDUCTED GIRLS

Israel has sent two intelligence and anti-terror experts to Nigeria as part of Israel’s assistance in the mission to locate and rescue over 200 girls who were kidnapped by terrorist sect, Boko Haram over one month ago.

An Israeli security source said on Tuesday, May 20, 2014, that the pair of experts were specialists in solving hostage crises, but were not serving in the Israeli government.

It would be recalled that President  Goodluck Jonathan had accepted Israeli’s offer to help Nigeria in the search for the missing Chibok girls, during a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyalu, on Sunday, May 11, 2014.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

MILITARY SIGHTS ABDUCTED CHIBOK GIRLS IN THREE BOKO HARAM CAMPS

Nigeria’s special forces from the Army’s 7th Division sighted and narrowed the search for the more than 200 abducted Chibok school girls to three camps operated by the extremist Boko Haram sect.

The camps are supposedly in the north of Kukawa at the western corridors of the Lake Chad, senior military and administration officials have revealed.

A senior military official in Abuja described the latest development as a “Most difficult but heroic breakthrough.”

Another senior commander from the 7th Division said the military formation created to deal with the insurgency in the north east, confirmed the claim.

US DEPLOYS TROOPS IN CHAD

The United States of America, on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, announced the deployment of 80 troops to assist in the search and rescue of the 200 school girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram insurgents in April 14, 2014, in Chibok, Borno State.

This was contained in a letter the US President, Barack Obama wrote to the Speaker of the Congress, explaining the efforts being made by his administration to locate the girls.

Obama said that the US troops had been deployed to the Republic of Chad, and would remain there until US support in resolving the kidnapping situation is no longer required.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

MOTHER OF ABDUCTED GIRLS DIES OF HEART ATTACK

One of the mothers of the abducted girls of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, Mary Paul Lalai, died after suffering a heart attack.

The reports were confirmed by the member representing Chibok constituency in the Borno State House of Assembly, Aimu Fona.

The late Mrs. Lalai was the mother of two of the over 200 abducted girls by members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect on April 14, 2014.

Her heart attack, which eventually led to her death was as a result of the broken heart she had been facing for over one month since her daughters were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents from their dormitory in Chibok, Borno State.

NUT DECLARES NATIONWIDE STRIKE, SHUTS DOWN SCHOOLS

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Wednesday, May 20, 2014, directed its members across the country to sit at home on Thursday, May 21, 2014.

NUT President, Mr. Olukoya, gave the directive at a press conference in Abuja, saying that the union had resolved to hold #BringBackOurGirls rallies, simultaneously, across the federation.

Mr. Olukoya said that all schools nationwide should be closed, as the day had been set aside as NUT’s day of protesting the abduction of the girls, as well as the heartless murder of 173 teachers.

…STATE CHAPTERS OF NUT EMBARK ON PROTESTS

Following the NUT President, Mr. Olukoya’s directive, the state chapters of the teachers’ union embarked on protests in their respective states.

NUT Lagos chapter stormed the Lagos State governor’s office on Thursday, May 21, 2014. Mr. Segun Raheem, the state chairman of NUT, who led the protest urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts to ensure the girls were rescued.

In the same vein, the members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Ondo state branch, staged a peaceful protest in Akure, the Ondo state capital, to condemn the abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno State on April 14.

The teachers chorused solidarity songs at the governor’s office with placards bearing inscriptions such as Release Our Girls, Bring Back Our Girls Safe and Alive, Bring Back Our Girls and Save Our Schools.

Imo NUT borrowed a leaf from their counterparts in other states as over 500 of the state’s chapter of NUT took to the streets of Owerri, Imo state capital, to protest the abduction of the Chibok school girls. Leading the protesters to the Imo State Government House in Owerri, the chairman of Imo NUT, Dr. Cletus Okeke, described the actions of the Boko Haram sect as abominable and a curse to humanity.

FELLOW SOUTH EASTERN STATE, ENUGU, FOLLOWED

Imo State no fewer than 200 teachers drawn from the 17 local government areas of the state also embarked on a peaceful protest to express their displeasure on the abduction of over 200 students of Chibok, Borno Stae.

The aggrieved teachers, clad in black attire, with some adorning the uniform of NUT also protested the killings of 173 teachers in Borno and Yobe states by Boko Haram insurgents.

They asked the government to find an end to the senseless and needless destruction of lives and property in the north-east.

Enugu State neigbours, Anambra, were not left out of the protest spree, as the state chapter staged a protest in front of the Government House, Awka, to demand the unconditional release of the girls.

The state chapter chairman, Mr. Ifeanyi Ofodile, who led the protests, said that Nigerians, irrespective of tribe and religion, should come together and tackle the menace called Boko Haram.

Boko Haram depleted Borno State, also joined the protest against the over 200 girls’ abduction. The teachers, who equally used the occasion to seek payment of compensation for the 173 teachers killed by Boko Haram insurgents within the last three years in Borno and Yobe states, said that much has not been done by the federal government to see to it that the girls regained freedom.

Friday, May 23, 2014                    

PRESIDENT JONATHAN SAYS HE IS NOT SLOW OVER CHIBOK GIRLS

President Goodluck Jonathan condemned in strong terms the insinuation by some persons that he was slow in swinging into action over the abducted Chibok girls.

He stated this while addressing the protesters from the #BringBackOurGirls campaign group in Abuja. He said he was not slow in acting because he was in constant discussions with security chiefs on a daily basis, as well as having constant consultations with regional and global partners on the terrorist threats.

According to him, the Federal Government took action from the first day the girls were abducted, and directed the security services to go after the abductors, noting that the search for the girls had now assumed regional and global proportion.

PLATEAU GOVERNOR CRITICISES #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS ABUJA PROTESTERS   

Plateau governor, Jonah Jang, on Friday, May 23, 2014, criticized the Abuja #BringBackOurGirls protesters who marched to the Presidential Villa, on Thursday, May 22, 2014, to demand the release of the Chibok girls.

The governor discredited the protesters while inspecting the site of a bomb blast in Jos (the bomb blast was on Tuesday, May 20, 2014).

He questioned the protesters, asking how could a group of people protest to the Villa, demanding the president to go to the forest and bring back the girls. He concluded saying, “Why don’t they go to the forest where the girls are?”

Saturday, May 24, 2014

PRESIDENT JONATHAN BOOED IN SOUTH AFRICA

President Goodluck Jonathan got an unpleasant welcome in South Africa as the crowd booed at him when he arrived the venue of the inauguration ceremony of South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma.

President Jonathan was one of the 20 Head of States that graced Zuma’s inauguration in South Africa. He arrived to greeting of #BringBackOurGirls at the Union Building for the ceremony.

PRESIDENCY DEBUNKS REPORTS

The Presidency has denied media reports that President Goodluck Jonathan was booed in Pretoria, during the inauguration of President Zuma for a second term in office, over his perceived mishandling of the Chibok abduction.

Dr. Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in a briefing with State House correspondents described the reports as untrue.

AFRICAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS KIDNAPPED GIRLS

African Head of States and governments gathered in South Africa for President Jacob Zuma’s inauguration will hold informed talks on the security situation in Nigeria.

South African government spokesman, Clayson Mandela, said they would meet to discuss security in Nigeria, where the abduction of 276 school girls has exposed the government’s security inadequacies.

The talks follow a series of attacks in Nigeria by notorious terrorist sect, Boko Haram, which has claimed countless Nigerians as well as property worth millions destroyed.

-MICHAEL NWOKIKE

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