#BringBackOurGirls

Thank God that the video showed some of the girls and the parents were able to identify them. This has rekindled Hopes that the girls will be rescued after almost a month of being abducted from their school, Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok,  Borno State.

When the President had that media chat and announced to the nation that the capacity of the Nigerian military was eroded by more than 20 years of under funding prior to the outbreak of the Boko Haram insurgency, and it cannot fight the terrorists, my heart skipped a beat and worry sets in. Worry because, the military was the last and only hope then to bring back those innocent girls. And when he said the military does not have the capacity to fight the insurgents, we lost hopes of any rescue. Read below what he said.

President Goodluck Jonathan

The session opened with a question on the abduction of girls and the President responded with the challenges we face as a nation:

As a nation, we are having our fair share of these challenges. But let me use this unique opportunity to thank and appreciate Nigerians for their concern and their commitment to, as a nation, get over these challenges. I promise that we will get over our challenges.”

He called on the parents and guardians of the abducted school girls then to provide useful information that will assist security personnel find the girls, he said:

On the school girls that were kidnapped, it is getting up to three weeks now, one thing that we know is that from April 24, the security personnel have been searching everywhere. They know that this thing happened in Borno State, and Borno State is where we have the highest number of the terrorists called Boko Haram. If this thing had happened in another state and security personnel were moved, the whole world would have seen a lot of mobilization. Security personnel are already on ground. All the information given to us, we have searched the places, we have used helicopter to search the surfaces.
 “We promise that wherever these girls are, we will surely get them out. The good thing is that there is no story that any of the girls have been hurt, injured or dead. I really sympathize with the parents and guardians of these girls. We are all fathers and mothers. Let us reassure them that we will get their daughters. I recently held a security meeting with the service chiefs and I also sent for the governor of Borno State, who came with the Commissioner for Education and the principal of the school and we had some useful discussion with them.
“We believe that wherever these girls are, we will get them out. What we request is maximum cooperation from the parents and the guardians of these girls. Up till this time, they have not been able to come out clearly to give the police the identity of the girls that are to return. The police have records of 44 of them, while the principal mentioned to me on Saturday night that 53 have returned but the police have record of 44. I recently set up a committee to go to Borno State, we will provide the security.
“We are pleading that the parents should cooperate with government, we will need the identities, including their photographs. We are also talking to neighboring countries so that wherever they take those girls to, we will surely get them back if we get the maximum cooperation from the parents and guardians. Let me reassure Nigerians that we will get the girls out, we appreciate the concern shown by Nigerians and globally. We see what they are doing in terms of protest, which is quite healthy.”

When he said they have searched everywhere with planes and cannot locate the girls, we lost hope. It was as if the bokpo haram insurgents were invincible and very powerful. Left  for our President and his security personnel, the insurgents would have not become jittery and started showing videos and making demands for the exchange of the abducted girls. Now they know that with the sophisticated weapons of the international collaborators, they don't stand a chance in hell, so there are making demands.

Mrs Asaba Kwabura Principal of Girls Secondary School Chibok

One of the Northern Leaders said recently that  Boko Haram was an ideology built on falsehood which cannot stand the test of time. But the issue here is that they have not done anything to terminate this ideology. I keep wondering if the Northern elders are scared of the sponsors of this religious killer squad. Why haven't they come out boldly to challenge this group?.

Unfortunately we have been having these jihadists in the north. Its just that they keep changing their names but their mode of operations is the same - kill, maim, burn, destroy etc. Although the Governor described the the abduction of the students as a national tragedy, what has he desperately done as the Chief Security officer of the State to stop this tragedy from occurring  again.?

 Thank God once again that the girls are alive as shown on the video and for the help of Countries like the US, Britain, France and Israel. I am very hopeful now that the girls will be rescued by the Grace of God and the help of the military mights of these Countries. I thank God for prayers being offered daily by Christians all over the world for the rescue of the girls in particular and Nigeria in General.

Boko Haram pls release the girls of GGSS Chibok

               

                                                                                                                                                      Governor Shettima                                                                                                                                

PARENTS of abducted female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State, have said only 40 out of the 234 kidnapped girls escaped and have already joined them in their respective houses in Biu, Gwoza, Damboa and other communities.
  The Parents confirmed this to dispel the rumours making the round that eighty percent of the girls have been rescued. The aggrieved and traumatised parents spoke at the premises of the destroyed school when the governor paid them a sympathy visit.
 During the visit, One of the parents, Malam Shettima Haruna, told the governor that since the incident happened, they have been having sleepless nights as they took courage and entered the forest looking for their daughters, but their search and rescue mission was fruitless. Haruna said:

Your Excellency, we want to seize this opportunity to thank you for the visit and for identifying with us at this sorrowful moment, but the truth of the matter is that only 40 out of about 234 students have so far been rescued, and we want to emphasise that we are not happy with this development. In as much as we continue praying for the safe return of our daughters, we appeal to government and our security operatives to please intensify the search for our missing innocent children

 Amos Chiroma, on the other hand ,who was among the search and rescue team, confirmed that Sambisa forest is the camp ground for the Boko Haram insurgents. He said they saw a lot of strange things in the forest, adding that only prayers and fasting can rescue the remaining abducted girls:

While we were in the bushes of Sambisa with over 200 volunteers who only had cutlasses, bows and arrows and sticks, we came across different make-shift camps suspected to be owned by terrorists, it is unfortunate that we have to withdraw from the rescue and search operation. When we met one Good Samaritan in the forest, he advised that all of us should go back because the camp we were approaching was a death trap set by insurgents. If soldiers were able to join us to the forest, our missing children will be rescued.

Governor Shettima  sympathised with parents of the abducted students then and pledged to deploy all human and material resources towards the safe release of the remaining girls. He even sermonised saying:

"They can burn our physical infrastructure, but they cannot destroy our souls.
We are going to survive and rebuild our lives because truth will always triumph over falsehood,
The abduction of innocent girls is also a trial from God, and we will overcome it soon.
Our hearts go to the parents of the abducted girls, because it is a tragedy that has befallen all of us,
Security agents are working very hard to rescue the girls. Hopefully the girls will be rescued in a very short while"

How short is the short while? There are so many questions begging for answers here? Since the Governor gave that speech till now no more girls have been rescued. The ten or so that escaped did it on their own. They said they went to wash at the stream so they ran away. If the girls could run through the forest, how come our Military personnel cannot run through and flushed out this evil men.?
By the way, why did the principal asked the girls to come back without adequate security? Why didn't they move the WASCE Centre away from Borno State?
Even our President, GOODLUCK JONATHAN promised that all the girls would be rescued shortly too but weeks after, nothing of the such.
Who is responsible for the safety of lives and properties in this Nation? Where are the money for security votes going to?

My heart bleeds as a mother for theses young, innocent girls that are still being kept by these insurgents as slaves to do their bidding and at their mercies.
Please will our government both at the State and Federal level do something please....We are begging for something to be done, an action to be taken please......Enough with promises that are not kept. Stop playing politics with the lives of these girls.

 

Boko Haram Attacks

More Attacks

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN When this radical Islamist sect nicknamed BOKO HARAM started their jihadist war some years ago, people thought it was a phase that would soon pass like the other sects that had reigned before them. What they did not know was that foreign sponsors are backing this particular sect and some highly placed Northerners are backing them too. I mean how do you explain where a leader of the Sect was arrested and the security agencies ie the police just allowed the man to 'escape'? ESCAPE Or they just opened their door and asked him to GO? Now the Leader of the Boko Haram Sect escaped and two days after, ther was this well cordinated attacks that left at least 143 people dead in Kano. The figure though not confirmed by our Government was given by an official in the Government hospitals that the corpse dead were deposited. The official said that the figure represented those in the mortuary as well as those whose bodies have already been claimed by families for burial. Unfortunately, our people will now come up with wrong figures because we dont even have correct census of people or statistics. Well Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attacks that started Friday after their Jummai prayers. Soldiers and police officers have been guarding strategic places and areas in the city since last year. How come they were not able to stop the carnage and wanton destruction? We are talking about the bombing of Police Stations? What it means is that our Security Agencies are not effective and their usefulness remains a question to be answered by Government. I mean the armed personnels were the targets for daring to arrest their Sect leader as unfortunately, the uniformed bodies of many of their colleagues lay in the overflowing mortuary of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano. An eye witness account stated this

There were bombs and then gunmen were attacking police and police came back with attacks

, In a statement issued late Friday, the Police spokesman, Olusola Amore said attackers targeted five police buildings, two immigration offices and the Zonal headquarters of the State Security Service, Nigeria's secret police. He did not confirm how many of their men were killed or injured.

Nwakpa O. Nwakpa, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said volunteers offered first aid to the wounded, and evacuated those seriously injured to the hospitals. He said officials continued to collect corpses scattered around sites of the attacks. A survey of two hospitals by their organisation showed at least 50 people were injured in Friday's attacks.

The State Government to avert more killings and bombing declared a 24-hour curfew late Friday. Residents and visitors meanwhile are hiding inside their homes amid the fighting. A Boko Haram spokesman claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists. He said the attack came as the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the police. The sponsors of Boko Haram must be very rich and influential. This kind of cordinated and daring attacks carried out with increasingly sophisticated weapons and ammunition must be costing a fortune. Its only the Politicians and the Oil cartels that have that kind of money and connections. These attacks are becoming bloody and spreading from Maiduguri to Niger State, Kaduna and now Kano. When will the Federal Government wake up to put a stop to this senseless killing and destruction of properties? Nigeria cannot implement strict Shariah laws as this is a SECULAR Nation. Can someone please tell the Boko Haram people pls.

Deaths in the Church

In this Christmas season of love and joy, some people are still thinking of maiming, destroying and killing. It is really sad and unfortunate.

This terrorism is a new form of rebellion and alien to us. We know of strikes to press for demands and the attention of Government. Afterwards, the Niger Delta Youths came up with Kidnapping of Expatriates to force the numerous Oil Companies operating in the Region to start investing a little in the region. What they demanded was infrastructural development and respect for their environment. One of the Oil giant, Shell just devastated the environment with oil spill and refused to clean up. The main source of income of the locals which is farming was gone as the oil spill killed the fishes and left the farmland bare. After years of begging and nothing was done by the Oil Companies and Government, the Youths decided to form militant groups to demand change and payment to the people who had suffered neglect all these years. When the Youths started kidnapping as the last resort, the Government of those Expatriates prevailed on our Government and of course our Government listened. The regions had a Ministry dedicated to it, jobs were created for the teeming youths and Amnesty offered to the Militants. The Niger Delta Youths (the Militants)had a cause they were fighting for. Everyone in the Country and outside including the International Community was aware of the Cause they were fighting for and something had to be done. In the case of BOKO HARAM, can someone tell me what Cause they are fighting for? They said they dont want western education and democracy? Is that possible in this 21st Century? Honestly, if i have access to Government, i will tell them to shut all schools in the Northern Part of the Country and disconnect them from electricity. In fact every form of civilisation, will be erased from the region so they can go back to lliving like barbarians, animals that they are. Why attacking and killing innocent people? Why Christians? Especially in this period of celebration of HE who paid the price for all humanity. Why throwing bombs into the Church for goodness sake? A Holy place of Worship. That is sacrilege.

These people went to worship and celebrate the birth of JESUS CHRIST not knowing that the children of darkness were lurking at the corner street to kill themselves and take as many people as possible with them. I say once again that It is so sad and unfortunate. Unfortunate in the sense that our security agencies are not living up to the expectation of the people. They have failed in information gathering and investigation of these criminals. They need to expand their dragnet and up their surveillance. Enough of these senseless killing and destructions of properties.