You read the summary of some of the protesters in the
immediate post below. But the group just sent in a press release narrating what
happened today, and how they plan to continue.
Following our march to meet with President Jonathan, during
which he was represented by a delegation, led by the Secretary to the
Government, a speech was read on his behalf advising our movement
#BringBackOurGirls, Abuja Family: “...that protests should be directed at the
terrorists…”.
Last Monday 26th May, being the 27th day of our daily
gathering at the Unity Fountain and the 42nd day since the abduction day of our
girls, we observed a large contingent of a new group that arrived in over 30
Federal Government SURE P Buses with a message that aligned with what we had
been told during our meeting with the Federal Government delegation.
Understanding fully the constitutional guarantee of every
citizens’ right to their expression and to peaceful gathering, we continued
with our own meeting in a new location, having lost our usual spot to the new
group. Regrettably, we then witnessed
patterns of escalating aggression toward our group by this new group.
In our bid at stemming any further aggravation, we wrote a
Letter of Complaint dated 28th May to the Inspector General of Police and the
FCT Commissioner of Police which was duly
received by their respective offices. In our letter, attached to this
Statement, we reminded the Nigerian Police that we have been a group, which has
conducted itself with utmost civility in the course of our campaign for the
abducted Chibok girls. We asked the
Nigerian Police Force to be available to reprimand the aggressive group and
remind them of the need to conduct themselves similarly and to desist from any
form of confrontation to our group.
Unfortunately, what we feared would happen unfolded, and
tragically with officers of the Nigerian Police Force looking on, thugs,
hooligans, miscreants dressed in the red, yellow, and white t-shirts with the
inscription: #ReleaseOurGirls Boko Haram” burst upon our group breaking chairs,
and bottles on the heads of members of #BringBackOurGirls, Abuja, many of the
women broke down. They snatched phones and handbags of ladies in our group and
also attacked the local and international media correspondents, confiscating
and breaking their cameras. The police, at a point, arrested two of the
ringleaders, but before our very eyes, released them barely 10 minutes after.
By this Statement, we are calling the attention of the
President, the Federal Government and the international community to the
descent to anarchy against our group, which simply emerged as a women-led civil
society group driven by a response to the plight of the abducted Chibok girls
and their families.
We know that this is a violation of our fundamental right to
peaceful assembly and freedom of association, but we remain resolute in
standing with the Chibok girls. We invite every Nigerian with goodwill towards
the abducted girls to our daily events. Tomorrow, we shall stand in solidarity
with them through a National Symposium, which will be holding at Thisday Dome,
with live broadcast on Channels TV. We
shall return to the Unity Fountain on Friday, May 31, 2014 and will continue
with our daily advocacy. We shall continue to demand that those with the
responsibility to protect our lives and our welfare, to BringBackOurGirls.
Signed:
Hadiza Bala Usman
Obiageli Ezekwesili
For Media inquiries, Contact:
Rotimi Olawale
media@bringbackourgirls.ng
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