The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to securing the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and Leah Sharibu, assuring Nigerians that the plight of the victims has not been forgotten despite the passage of time.
Recall that a total of 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.
About 11 years later, 87 of them are still believed to be in captivity.
Similarly, Leah Sharibu remains in captivity after being abducted along with 109 other schoolgirls by Islamic State West Africa Province fighters from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018. While the others were released, Leah, the only Christian among them, was held back for refusing to renounce her faith.
Speaking at a multi-agency meeting on anti-kidnapping held in Abuja on Tuesday, Major General Adamu Laka, National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, said efforts to free the remaining victims have continued over the years.
“Since when they were kidnapped, those who were rescued were not just rescued one time; it was a gradual process. Negotiations were done, trying to get them out. Operations were conducted.
Luckily, at the beginning of that, towards the year after they were kidnapped, I was in the theatre, and I know what the military and intelligence agencies put into rescue the initial set of the Chibok girls,” he stated.
General Laka stressed that while some of the girls were married to insurgents, many had since been rescued, and efforts to free the others are ongoing.
“We haven’t given up hope on them; some of them were married to some of the insurgents. Some have come out. But let our focus not only be on the Chibok girls. There are others that have been kidnapped—aid workers, Nigerian aid workers who were kidnapped. We’ve rescued some that are working for UNICEF,” he said.
He also emphasized that media silence should not be mistaken for government inaction or indifference.
“We’ve rescued some that are working for UNHCR and IOM and so on. Do you understand? So, we haven’t relented on our efforts.
There is the issue of this lady, Leah Sharibu. So, not because it’s not always in the press.
We are not always talking about it. It doesn’t mean we don’t care. It doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about them. We are still on it. Our prayer is that the whole 87 or 80 plus that are left will be rescued by God’s grace,” he added.
General Laka also gave updates on the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell, housed at the National Counterterrorism Centre. The centre was officially launched by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on December 19, 2024, to enhance collaboration among security agencies in tackling kidnapping across the country.
