Over 300 women, school pupils, activists and members of Chibok community resident in Lagos, joined a protest march which took off at the Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja to press for the release of the girls alive by the Boko Haram group.
They chanted solidarity songs, displayed the portraits of the girls, placards and called on the relevant authorities to hasten action on the return of the abducted girls.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode reiterated his administration’s commitment to the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigns. He said the BBOG has kept hope alive for the missing girls.
Ambode said it was painful that the innocent schoolgirls were still in captivity after 500 days they were kidnapped, stressing that he was worried just like President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned.
He said: “Through your activities, the plight of the parents of the missing girls was not only brought to the fore, it has also kept hopes alive.
“We were very concerned and pained, when the girls were declared missing. We were more disturbed about the reaction of the past administration which was globally condemned as inadequate.
“We thank God that President Buhari has vowed to bring the girls back. I want to say categorically, that my administration fully identifies with the position expressed by government, that the girls will be brought back alive.”
Speaking on behalf of the BBOG, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi said the group needed the government’s the support.
She said: “Our advocacy methodology include a daily sit out in Abuja, weekly sit-out in Lagos, Osogbo and Ibadan. We visit relevant stakeholders on the matter. We devised the citizens’ solution to end terrorism and the verification, authentication and reunification system for security purpose.
“There are over two million IDPs in Nigeria and some of them are in Lagos State. We therefore, call on government to ensure that they are taken care of adequately.”
Former President of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) Mrs. Ayo Obe said:
“That is what is baffling us; we believe that they must be in more than one place. We are surprised and alarmed that not even one (of the girls) has been brought back.
Representative of Chibok community in Lagos, Mr. Moses Dakwa, said Chibok town had become a ghost community. He added that most of the youths had fled Chibok, leaving the aged to suffer.
He said: “After a series of protest by concerned Nigerians over the kidnapped girls, 500 days have passed but no result. I must say 15 out of the parents of the girls have died because of the grief.
“There is no standing school in the entire Chibok land. It is only our parents that are in Chibok. There is no single young man who is living in Chibok. Today we have over 10,000 Chibok indigenes scattered across the country,’’ he said.
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