The Federal Government has allegedly denied members of the
Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group access to the 106 rescued Chibok girls four
weeks after 82 of them were released by the Boko Haram insurgents.
This was made known to the media in Abuja by members of the
group’s strategic team.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Aisha Yesufu, said even some
relatives of the girls, who were also members of the BBOG group, were also
denied access to the girls now in the care of the Federal Ministry of Women
Affairs.
She said that their inability to meet with the girls had
slowed its identities’ verification process.
According to her, the coalition was not discouraged by
government’s attitude, noting that the group was still gathering data through
unofficial sources to complete an independent verification of the girls’
identities.
She said; “Right from the first girl that was found, none of
us in BBOG was allowed to see them. We have 106 girls but we have never met
them.
“Some of our members who are relatives have been denied
access based on the fact that they are members of the BBOG movement.
“This is okay by us as long as the parents are able to see
their daughters. The girls should be given the best type of education
available.”
“There is no collaboration between BringBackOurGirls and the
Federal Government, if there was collaboration, we would have concluded the
verification process.
“The Federal Government has refused to establish that
collaboration with us and so we are doing it on our own. Members of Kibaku
Community that are members of the BBOG are liaising with the Chibok parents to
get data for our verification process.”
Corroborating Yesufu’s position, BBOG spokesperson, Sesugh
Akume, stated that the movement had not been allowed to meet with the rescued
Chibok girls.
He said, “We don’t know why, but they have not allowed us to
meet the girls and this is why we have been unable to complete the identities
verification process.”
By Chijioke Jannah
