''CHIBOK GIRLS: BBOG ENDORSES BUHARI’S APPEAL TO UN ON NEGOTIATION''
President Muhammadu Buhari has told the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, that Nigeria will welcome intermediaries from the global body to negotiate with Boko Haram over the release of the over 200 girls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State, over two years ago.
Buhari’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement on Tuesday, quoted the President as saying this during a bilateral meeting with the UN scribe on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly in New York.
The President said the Nigerian government was willing to bend over backwards to free the Chibok girls, who were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, on April 14, 2014.
Buhari stated, “The challenge is in getting credible and bona fide leadership of Boko Haram to discuss with. The split in the insurgent group is not helping matters. The government had reached out, ready to negotiate, but it became difficult to identify credible leaders. We will welcome intermediaries such as the UN outfits to step in.”
The BringBackOurGirls movement said it supported Buhari’s invitation to the UN in the negotiation with Boko Haram on the move to release the Chibok girls.
BBOG’s spokesmen, Abubakar Abdullahi, who spoke with The PUNCH on Thursday, said the group endorsed any step that would facilitate the rescue of the Chibok schoolgirls.
The BBOG spokesman added, “If you recall what we did when the ‘plea for rescue video’ came out, our position was that something needed to be done; a decision needed to be taken and that we also needed the support of our partners.
“If the President at this point feels that the UN would provide excellent support to this, also provide exceptional leadership to ensure that the girls are returned safely, why not? We support anything that ensures our girls are back.”
Asked if he believed the President was on the right track, Abdullahi said the BBOG supported anything that would bring the girls back.
“If the President feels the credibility of the United Nations would help, to show leadership, return our girls, of course, that is a good thing. We support that; whatever will bring them back is what we want; they have stayed too long already.”
Also, Esther Yakubu, the parent of one of the abducted girls, said she supported any move that would fast-track the release of her daughter.
Yakubu said, “I support any move that will bring back my daughter. They have made many promises to us in respect of the girls, which were not fulfilled, but if the President feels the involvement of the UN will facilitate the release of the girls, I support it.
“All I want is my baby in my arms.”
The President noted that the teachings of Boko Haram were far from being Islamic, adding that neither Islam nor any other religion advocated hurting the weak and the innocent.
