‘Raise special military team to rescue Chibok girls’

• Falana tasks FG on register for kidnapped, missing persons
Elder statesman, Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, yesterday, advised President Bola Tinubu to set up a special military task force to rescue the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and others still in the captivity of Boko Haram insurgents.

He spoke at a news conference in Abuja to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the teenagers’ abduction by the sect.

The Ijaw national leader suggested that the proposed team should be coordinated by courageous officers.

While expressing displeasure over the failure of past administrations to free the girls, Clark charged the President to leave no stone unturned in securing their release.

He said: “About 90 of them are still missing after 10 years. This should be a source of worry and concern to any government of a nation.

“Tinubu should appoint a special task force with brave soldiers, competent, transparent and not nepotic.

“It appears to some of us that President Tinubu’s government is not serious in the effort to rescue the remaining Chibok girls.”

ALSO, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has urged the Federal Government to have a register of kidnapped, released and missing persons in the country.

He spoke a virtual programme to mark the 10th anniversary of the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction organised by Women Radio 91.7fm.

Commenting on adopting capital punishment for kidnappers as recommended by the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, the senior lawyer stated that the suggestion is “diversionary.”

“I do not subscribe to any form of capital punishment because it has never addressed the root cause of the problems it is meant to address,” he asserted.

Falana added: “While I think it is a diversionary suggestion, other Nigerians would prefer that we recommend capital punishment for the criminality that leads to corruption.

“Those who are making suggestions that kidnappers be shot at would also not want to extend that to those who loot the treasury, sometimes to the tune of over N100 billion.”

The rights activist said there is a need to rekindle the interest of Nigerians in pressurising the government to ensure the release of the remaining schoolgirls.

IN a related development, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has called for concrete action to secure kids’ education in Nigeria.

A Minimum Standards for Safe Schools (MSSS) Monitoring Report,’ released by the global agency has shown that attacks and abductions of Nigerian school children have been on the rise since the kidnapping of 260 schoolgirls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, 10 years ago.

It revealed that just 37 per cent of schools across 10 states have early warning systems in place to identify threats.

Presenting the report in Abuja, UNICEF Nigeria’s Chief of Education, Saadhna Panday-Soobrayan, pointed out that the journey towards ensuring that every Nigerian child could learn in a safe environment is far from over.

He noted that in the last 10 years, conflict-related violence has led to more than 1,680 children abducted while at school and elsewhere, with 180 kids killed and an estimated 60 staff kidnapped and 14 murdered, with more than 70 attacks on schools.

UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, observed that the Chibok girls’ case re-awakes the severe risks children face in their pursuit of education.

She added: “Reflecting on this tragedy and other recent abductions, it is evident that our efforts to safeguard our children’s future must be amplified. Given these alarming statistics, we must address not only the symptoms, but also the root causes of this crisis. Education is a fundamental right and a crucial pathway out of poverty. Yet, for too many Nigerian children, it remains an unattainable dream.”