Why Chibok girls are still missing one year after kidnap, by ActionAid

ActionAid, an international civil society organization with a local chapter in Nigeria, has attributed failure to rescue the over 200 Chibok school girls abducted by the Boko Haram sect to faulty planning and indecisiveness of the Nigerian government.

Country Director of ActionAid, Ojobo Atuluku, who spoke in Abuja, at a send off ceremony for the outgoing country director, Hussaini Abdu, stated that lack of a proactive search plan is responsible for non- release of the students kidnapped more than a year ago from their school premises in Borno State.

Atuluku, who expressed optimism about the return of the girls, said Actionaid believes that the Chibok girls are still alive but held captive within the borders of Nigeria. She said all that the in-coming administration needs to do to immediately free the girls is to go back to the drawing board to address the loopholes already created by past efforts to free the girls.

Atuluku explained that until government changes her approach in the search for the girls, the wait for their safe return may continue. She called for more citizens’ collaboration with the military in the efforts to rescue the abducted students.

Ojobo, who had once worked for half a decade in Actionaid before her return to head the group, §said communities where schools are situated need to be sensitized on collective protection of students and property within their locality.

While expressing confidence in the incoming administration to address the Chibok girls issue, the ActionAid boss stressed the need for government to design programmes that will restore public confidence in security of not only students but other members of society, irrespective of their religion or location.

“We have strong belief that the Chibok girls are still alive. We also believe that they can be released, because nothing is impossible.

The only thing is that the incoming government led by General Muhammed Buhari has to insist on new strategy for searching for the missing Chibok girls. Why have they not been found one year after?. They need to prioritize getting back those innocent girls.

For us in ActionAid, it is on the top of our agenda. The incoming government has to engage the outgoing administration to know what have been their challenges.

We should also ensure citizens participation in efforts at securing schools located in various communities. Efforts must also be intensified to show that education is safe for both the girl-child and their male counterpart in the north,” Ojobo said.

The Vice Chairman of ActionAid Board, Prof. Sam Egwu, said the transition from one headship to another in the group had been ongoing for four months.

The idea, he said, was to achieve the high standard the group is known for in terms of competence and wide exposure of its country heads. He described Hussaini Abdu as a versatile administrator whose experience and contributions to the development of ActionAid would continually be appreciated.