FG Rejects BBOG’s Condition To Join Search For Chibok Girls In Sambisa

The Federal Government has rejected the conditions given by the Bring Back Our Girls, #BBOG, group, to join the military in search of the missing Chibok girls in Sambisa Forest.

The Federal Government, in a letter dated January 11, had invited members of BBOG to a short trip in a military operational flight into Sambisa forest in search of the missing girls.

The government asked the BBOG to nominate three of its members to join on the guided trip out of which two would join the sorties due to limited seats on the search plane.

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According to the government, the aim of the trip was for the BBOG to witness and better understand the efforts being made to secure the freedom of the girls and other victims of Boko Haram terrorists.

In its reply to the invitation, the BBOG asked that certain conditions be met by the government before the tour, and also demanded for a change in the scheduled date.

But in a letter addressed to the convener of the group, Obiageli Ezekwesili, the government said it was unable to postpone the trip as requested.

The letter dated January 14 and signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed read:

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“Thank you for your letter, dated Jan. 13, which is in response to ours of Jan. 11, requesting that we change the date of the proposed guided tour of the North-East to accommodate a Pre-Tour Meeting between your organisation and some top officials of the Federal Government.

“We have also noted the conditions you gave for embarking on the trip which include the said Pre-Tour Meeting and the retraction of some remarks allegedly made by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. – Gen. Tukur Buratai, which the #BBOG finds to be slanderous.

“We regret, however, to inform you that we are unable to postpone the trip as scheduled.”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the government insisted the team would proceed on the trip on Monday as scheduled because of the narrow window available to have a good weather on the day, adding that payment for the satellite downlink streaming of the mission had been made for the day and shifting the date will require another round of booking to secure such a slot.

“We hope that the BBOG will drop its conditions and join the trip which shows the commitment of the Federal Government to securing freedom for the Chibok girls and its transparency in handling the issues of the girls,” the letter read.

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