Abducted Chibok Girls: Senate Summons NSA, Other Security Chiefs

The Senate today summoned the National Security Adviser (NSA) and security chiefs to brief it on efforts to rescue Government Secondary School girls abducted two ago at Chibok, Borno State.

The order on the NSA and all security chiefs to appear at the senate followed a motion by Sen. Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi West) which was co-sponsored by three other senators.

After a unanimous adoption of the motion, the senate urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the release of the girls and that security agencies should do everything possible to rescue them.
It also urged the Federal Government to take over the rebuilding of the school to alleviate the sufferings of students.
The upper chamber sympathised with the parents of the girls and Chibok community, and Nigerians over the incident.
Presenting the motion earlier, Melaye said that besides the propaganda videos created by the Islamist militant group, none of the girls had been seen since their abduction.
He also pointed out that apart from the fact that some of the girls were yet to be rescued, the school where they were abducted was still unattended to.

The lawmaker said the abduction of the girls had greatly affected the image of the country in the international community.
“It is a harrowing feeling knowing that these girls are still under the mercy of such a violent group.
“I can only imagine the state of mind of the parents, guardians and relatives of the missing girls.
“I am concerned that the abduction has become a myth and their whereabouts an enigma.
“These girls have dreams and aspirations and in the eyes of God and the laws of man, they have every right to pursue such dreams.

“We cannot succeed as a government until those girls are released,’’ he said.
Contributing, Sen. Shehu Sani (APC-Kaduna Central) decried the levity with which issues affecting the poor were treated in the country.
He said that measures would have been put in place to rescue the girls if they were from rich homes.

“There is a class nature to abduction in Nigeria; when the rich are abducted it takes few weeks to get them back. Why must it take two years to get the Chibok girls back?
“When the Federal Government is ready, I have a strategy and advice to give, a freelance journalist offered to get these girls out and we have not done anything.
“ Visiting Chibok and talking too much while the girls are in captivity will not help the situation. If we are not careful we will move from anniversary to anniversary,’’ he said.
Sani called on government to continue to use force and explore the possibility of dialogue for the release of the girls.

He added that their abduction had dented the image of the country in the fight against terrorism.
Minority Leader, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, commended the Federal Government for measures put in place so far to rescue the girls.