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Seven Years After Chibok Kidnap, Parents Relive Pains, Seek Closure

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News Feature Seven Years After Chibok Kidnap, Parents Relive Pains, Seek Closure

Seven years after their children were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School Chibok in Borno state, parents of the victims are seeking a closure of that phase of their lives.

The parents who said that no fewer than 20 of them had died lamented that many others were now living with terminal ailments.

The Director of Media and Communication of the Kibaku (Chibok) Area Development Association KADA, Dr Allen Manasseh disclosed this at a solemn event Wednesday in Abuja to mark the seventh year of the kidnap of the pupils.

On the night of April 14, 2014, about 276 schoolgirls of Government Secondary School Chibok were kidnapped. While 57 later escaped, 105 were brought back through independent escape and military negotiations while 112 Chibok girls remain captives of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

At the time, no fewer than 503 pupils were registered to sit for their final Senior School Certificate (SSCE) known as WAEC and NECO at the school.

“No one can imagine the trauma and pain they are passing through, at the hands of terrorists who subject them to abuses, rapes, forced marriages, forced labour and many more associated with terrorism. Their parents are heartbroken, over 20 have since died, many are sick, waiting for answers from our government”, said Dr Manasseh.

While the parents called for ‘closure’ on the incident, they reminded President Muhammadu Buhari of his inaugural promise to see to their release.

READ ALSO: More Chibok Girls Escape From Boko Haram

“We remind President Muhammadu Buhari of his statement at his inauguration in 2015 that ‘We cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.’ But the actions – or rather, the inactions – of the Federal Government over our daughters, while repeatedly claiming that the terrorists have been defeated while our girls remain in bondage, is a painful reminder that this administration does not value the lives of our precious girls who have been abandoned by the government that is supposed to protect them.

READ ALSO: Nigeria Has Three Years To Restructure Or Face Worse Crisis – Gani Adams

“This is without a doubt that we appreciate the efforts done in the past to rescue the first batch of 21 girls and the second batch of 82 girls, but the government must know that each child is special in a special way to their parents. Even when all the girls are rescued and remains one as the case of Dapchi, where Leah Sharibu was kept behind, her parents are still in unimaginable pains and deserve justice, so are the remaining parents of the 112 Chibok girls”, the stated.
The Chairperson, Strategic Team of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, Florence Ozor in her welcome address said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration had provided a conducive environment for crime to thrive in the country.

“The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has midwifed a full-fledged kidnapping industry of both school children and individuals and aid workers in the North-East with Alice Nggadah a UNICEF health worker still in captivity following the execution of Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, and Hauwa Mohammed Liman both midwives with ICRC, her colleagues.

“This industry is aided by the government’s machinery of propaganda observed in the repeated campaigns on ‘recurring killings of Shekau’ who according to the regime has been killed at least four times, ‘technical defeat’, ‘decimation of Boko Haram’, and the issuing of threats that do nothing to deter the criminals.”

She recalled how the President Goodluck Jonathan administration had set up the ‘Presidential Fact-Finding Committee on the Abduction of the Chibok Schoolgirls’ headed by Ibrahim Sabo, a retired Nigerian Army brigadier-general to assuage global outcry.

“The committee submitted its report on 20 June 2014, and since then, nothing has been heard of the report nor has any implementation based on the report been communicated to the public even by the successor administration.

“The government of President Muhammadu Buhari campaigned on a tripod of promises, security, and the rescue of our girls being one. Six years after that pledge, 112 Chibok girls remain in captivity, and to worsen matters, we have continued to see graduating incompetence of this government with an unending spate of school children’s abductions.

“February 19th, 2018: 113 girls from Government Girls Secondary School and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State were abducted, and by the magnanimity shown by the criminals, 107 girls were returned, 5 reported dead, and the lone Christian girl- Leah Sharibu remains in captivity.

“December 11th, 2020: 344 boys of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State (the home state of the president during his visit) were abducted and their rescue was secured by negotiations.

“December 20th, 2020: 80 students of Islamiya schools Mahuta Town, Katsina State were abducted and their rescue was secured by negotiations.

“February 17th, 2021: 27 students of Government Science College Kagara, Niger State were abducted and their rescue was secured by negotiations.

“February 26th, 2021: 317 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State were abducted and their rescue secured by negotiations.

“Nigeria is under a siege of insecurity, no one is spared, and citizens did not vote for this turn of events and the condescending indifference from the president.

“It has been 7 years too long for our girls, their parents, our movement, and the nation. It is our earnest hope that this is the last lecture we will hold with our girls in captivity and that insecurity becomes a thing of the past”, she stated.

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Arrest Interim Govt Plotters Now – Governors

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Tambuwal Emerges Chairman Of Governors' Forum
Governor Tambuwal

Governors of the 36 states have asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and prosecute those involved in a plot to put in place an interim government as part of moves to truncate the nation’s democracy.

Condemning the move, the governors under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum assured of their commitment to continue in the defence of Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

In a statement on Friday by NGF Chairman and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal at the end of the 4th meeting of the Governors, he warned the DSS against issuing statements without arrest as that amounts to heating the polity.

Tambuwal said, “The Forum deliberated extensively on the alleged plot by some unscrupulous elements to install an interim government, as contained in the recent statement issued by the Department for State Services (DSS). Governors condemned in the strongest terms, any unconstitutional means of regime change and pledged its commitment to continue to defend Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

“In addition, the Forum believes that issuing statements without arrests is akin to heating up the polity and causing unwarranted tension in the country. It called on the DSS to do its job by immediately arresting and prosecuting all those involved in the plot as a matter of urgency.”

Recall that the DSS had on Wednesday confirmed rumours that a section of the political class was planning for an interim government in order to truncate the result of the recently-concluded general elections.

The Spokesman for the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya in a statement said that the agency had identified some key players in the plot for an Interim Government in Nigeria but did not give the names of the masterminds.

The agency had said that the planners of the interim government had already held several meetings, during which they weighed many options to actualize their plot including sponsoring endless mass protests across Nigerian cities, securing a warrant to declare a state of emergency or a court injunction to stop the inauguration of the executive and the legislature at the federal and state levels.

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BREAKING:Lagos Govt Arraigns Chrisland School, Principal, Others Over Death Of Pupil Whitney Adeniran

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Chrisland pupil Whitney

The Lagos State government has arraigned Chrisland School, Opebi, its principal, vice principal and two other employees over the death of one of the school’s pupils, 12-year-old Whitney Adeniran.

On Wednesday, the government of Lagos State had filed charges against Chrisland School and four others over the death of the 12-year-old pupil, Whitney Adeniran.

The school and its workers were accused of involuntary manslaughter and reckless and negligent acts.

The workers who were arraigned before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja include Ademoye Adewale, Kuku Fatai, Mrs Belinda Amao, Nwatu Ugochi Victoria and Chrisland School Limited.

The school principal, Mrs Belinda Amao, broke down in tears while in the dock as the court and counsel tried to agree on a date for the commencement of the trial.

Whitney died during the school’s inter-house sports competition at Agege Stadium in Lagos on February 9.

Blessing Adeniran, her mother, had accused Chrisland of negligence over her daughter’s death.

The school’s management, however, dismissed insinuations that there was foul play in the death, saying she slumped in public.

Chrisland also argued that Whitney complained about “not-too-buoyant health” a few days before she died.

However, an autopsy conducted at the Lagos State University Hospital (LASUTH) confirmed that the deceased died from “asphyxia and electrocution”.

In the charges filed on behalf of the state government by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Babajide Martins, who disclosed that their negligence killed Whitney because they failed to ensure her safety.

The charge also disclosed that they all acted in a reckless and negligent manner that endangered human life.

The offences are contrary to Sections 224 & 251 of the Criminal Law, C17, Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015

If found guilty, the offences carry a penalty of life imprisonment and two-year jail terms respectively.

On Tuesday, the state government granted access to Chrisland High School, Opebi branch, to open for physical learning ahead of the school’s forthcoming examination after parents’ appeal.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu had ordered that the school be shut down on March 3, 2023, following the investigation into Whitney’s death.

Sanwo-Olu through the state Ministry of Education said the closure of the school would pave the way for unhindered investigation and afford all stakeholders, including parents, students, staff and friends of the deceased, time to grieve.

The reopening followed an appeal by the Parents of all Chrisland School Units who visited the Ministry of Education on Monday to seek the government’s understanding for “the sake of 500 plus students some of whom also have terminal examinations.”

The management of the school had tendered an apology over Whitney’s death.

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BREAKING: Abacha’s Ex-chief Of Staff Oladipo Diya Dies

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Diya

Retired Lt.General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya, the former Chief of Staff in General Sani Abacha’s military government, is dead.

His death was confirmed by Prince Oyesinmilola Diya. He said the former military administrator of Ogun State passed on to glory in the early hours of 26th March 2023.

Born on the 3rd of April, 1944, Diya was military Governor of Ogun State after the Buhari-Idiagbon coup of December 31st, 1983.

Diya joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and fought during the Nigerian Civil War.

He later attended the US Army School of Infantry, the Command and Staff College, Jaji (1980–1981) and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.

While serving in the military, Diya studied law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained an LLB degree, and then at the Nigerian Law School, where he was called to bar as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He held other top military posts like GOC, 82 Division and finally the Chief of General Staff (military Vice President) to Gen Sani Abacha

The statement read: “On behalf of the entire Diya family home and abroad; we announce the passing on to Glory of our dear Husband,Father, Grandfather,brother, Lt- General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya (Rtd) GCON, LLB, BL, PSC, FSS, mni.

“Our dear Daddy passed onto glory in the early hours of 26th March 2023. Please keep us in your prayers as we mourn his demise in this period. Further announcements will be made public in due course.

“Barrister Prince Oyesinmilola Diya, on behalf of the family.”

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