219 Chibok Girls Confirmed Missing, Ezekwesili Vows to Fight on

Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Sabo (rtd.),‎ chairman, Presidential Fact-finding Committee on the Abduction of Chibok Schoolgirls, yesterday disclosed that 219 students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State are still missing after the abduction on April 14th by the terrorist sect.

This is coming as Dr Oby Ezekwesili, former Education minister, explained why she is at the forefront of the #bringbackourgirls advocacy while dismissing suggestions that she is being used by the opposition to lead the campaign for the rescue of the schoolgirls.

But Sabo said that the  219 students were among the 276 girls said to have been snatched from the school during the midnight raid.

Sabo while presenting the committee’s report to President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Friday said that contrary to the opinion being held by some people that no student was abducted, his committee discovered that there was indeed a mass abduction at the school.

He said during the raid, 119 students managed to escape before their remaining colleagues were abducted.

Sabo added that among the 276 girls abducted, 57 girls managed to escape from their abductors while they were being moved through a zig-zag route.

He said, “As most Nigerians already know, there were some persons who doubted whether, in fact, any student was abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok.

“On the other hand, for those who believed that there was abduction, there were lingering doubts as to how such a number of kidnap victims were conveyed, considering also that information was sparse as to how the raiding insurgents evacuated the victims.

“Mr. President, the Committee here wishes to lay to rest any residual doubt whether or not any student was abducted at Chibok. There was mass abduction on the night of 14th April, 2014.

“During the siege on the school, 119 students escaped from the school premises, before the insurgents took away their classmates. A total number of 276 students were, thus, abducted.

Elsewhere, Ezekwesili who has since then been at the forefront of the #bringbackourgirls ad­vocacy wondered why Nigeria has turned to a society where people no longer bother about the welfare of fellow citizens, most importantly, the vulnerable.

She insisted that being a mother coupled with her love for hu­manity has been her motivation to campaign for the rescue of the Chibok girls.

According to her “Our common humanity has been traumatized so badly that people would dare question why anybody would raise a voice concerning the daughters of peasants in Chibok just because they are not part of the elite. And so, whatever hap­pens to them, we should all just carry on with our normal life. The reason that I am part of this as a strong advocate for these girls is because I have a soul. I will be ac­countable to my maker if it would actually be said of me that I was in this country at a time that over 234 children are still missing and I simply couldn’t be bothered.”