Borno Gov Remembers Chibok Schoolgirls 2,549 Days After Abduction
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has expressed sadness that seven years after 276 schoolgirls were abducted from a boarding school in Chibok Local Government Area of the state, over 100 of them are still being held captive.
Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, had abducted the mostly Christian female students from their dormitories on April 14, 2014.
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Some of the schoolgirls had escaped, while the Nigerian military reportedly rescued others at different times since 2014.
But according to UNICEF, “At least 173 out of 276 Chibok girls abducted by [the] armed groups” are still missing as of 2021.
Governor Zulum, in an opinion article he posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, empathized with the parents and families of the missing schoolgirls.
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“As a father of daughters, I can’t even imagine the pains of having one’s daughter held by terrorists for as long as seven whole years.
“However, I urge parents, especially anyone with a female child to pause for while, no matter how brief, to imagine how it might feel to have one’s daughter abducted and held for more than 2,549 days so far. Imagine how parents and relations of these girls have been feeling in each of these days.
“Certainly, the mental torture of not knowing the fate of one’s daughter in the hands of Boko Haram is far worse than losing a child. No parent can ever lose hope in a missing child, and having that hope comes with so much pains of anxiety and depression,” he said.
Zulum commended parents of the remaining abducted schoolgirls for keeping hope alive that they would one day reunite with the daughters.
“…They deserve our continued empathy, our compassion, our support and most importantly, sharing their optimism.
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“As a father of all sons and daughters of Borno, I haven’t lost hope that our remaining Chibok schoolgirls and other abducted persons, will be safely recovered.
“From my series of interactions with the President, Commander in Chief, Muhammadu Buhari, I have seen in him, that he is as concerned as the parents of the Chibok and all of us.
“Countless times, the President has shown me that he is not losing hope on the Chibok girls. He says to me although a number of our girls were reunited with their parents and being catered for, by the Federal Government, he is not happy until remaining girls are freed,” said the governor.
Meanwhile, a 2018 UNICEF report stated that more than 1,000 children have been kidnapped by Boko Haram since 2013, while the agency estimates that about 10.5 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are out of school in Nigeria.
