Negotiate with Boko Haram, Chibok community tells FG

The Chibok community under the Kibaku Area Development Association, Borno State, has asked the Federal Government to negotiate with the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram for the release of 219 Chibok school girls abducted by the group.


The association also called for the establishment of an Army battalion in Chibok town to provide security for the residents of the community and its environs.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the National Chairman KADA, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, said the FG has yet to provide adequate security in the Chibok area since the abduction of the girls on April 14,2014, even in the face of persistent attacks by Boko Haram.

Bitrus noted that the unwillingness of the Federal Government to provide adequate security to Chibok following the abduction of the girls leaves the community with no choice than to call on the United Nations to come to their aid and protect them from imminent annihilation.

He also demanded for the construction of the 40km Mbalala-Chibok-Damboa federal road which he said had been abandoned for over 20 years.

He said, “Today (Friday) is 81 days since the abduction and inspite of the firm categorical statements by the Chief of Defense Staff that the location of the girls is known to the government, the appalling situation and agony encompassing the unfortunate abduction saga and detention of the Chibok girls by the Boko Haram insurgents continues and the rescue efforts by the government is yet to yield any result.

“So far, Boko Haram has carried out 15 attacks on the Chibok (Kibaku) nation involving 19 villages with over 229 killed and over 100 injured; some of the victims of these attacks are parents and relations of the abducted girls and thereby adding more pains to the traumatic condition inherent in the Chibok community.”

Bitrus, stated that while the situation persists, many distressed parents are dying of heart attack and frustration as their dejection had become unbearable.

“On record, seven parents have lost their lives due to the trauma of the situation,” he added.

The Chibok elder demanded for the reconstruction of Government Secondary School, Chibok and building of another secondary school within the community “considering the huge student population numbering 500 in a class.”

Bitrus also asked the government to immediately establish a rehabilitation centre in Chibok to address the psychological, medical and traumatic effects of the abduction on parents, the escaped girls and the whole community.