MEMBERS of the Chibok community in Borno State have faulted former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s declaration that is impossible for the Nigerian government to rescue the 219 missing schoolgirls nearly two years after Boko Haram kidnapped them.
Over the weekend, Chief Obasanjo argued that it was practically impossible for Nigeria's military operatives, who failed to rescue the girls within 72 hours when there was a window of opportunity to do so, to now perform magic after the girls had spent nearly two years in captivity. He urged the government to stop promising that it could return all of the girls to their parents.
However, in a swift reaction to the former president’s statement, some leaders of the Chibok community said Chief Obasanjo only gave his opinion on the matter. One Chibok leader said their belief in the possibility of rescuing the girls' lives on in spite of the lack of information about them since their abduction on April 14, 2014.
He argued that although they were troubled by the continued absence of the girls, they remain hopeful owing to the fact that not a single girl from the missing 219 has been identified or found dead in all the raids of camps and rescue operations so far carried out by the military. Nigeria's army has recued hundreds of women and girls from Boko Haram camps but so far, the girls have not been found.
“Obasanjo is a respected former president and retired military officer who may have his reasons for making such statement but to us, he is entitled to his opinion because we still believe the girls are alive and can be rescued. Our hope lies on the fact that since their abduction, none of them has been found dead or alive and that, to us is a good sign that they are alive.
"We would have been worried had there been any form of report that some of the girls were found dead, or some have been rescued during the rescue operations that were carried out recently. Boko Haram know the high premium the world has placed on the need to rescue the girls, so the schoolgirls may be their prize asset for bargain when push comes to shove," the community leader added.
He added that it is highly likely Boko Haram are keeping the girls as a last bargaining chip as going by their activities over the last four years, they are a very intelligent lot. According to the community leader, their prayer is that, one day, they may see them, even though they are not ruling out the fact that it is a difficult task and all of them may not be rescued at the end of the day.
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