#BBOG to engage Buhari on abducted girls

The #BringBackOurGirls movement has said it would seek a public engagement with President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, within one week of his inauguration, if the abducted 219 Chibok schoolgirls were not rescued by May 29, 2015.The BBOG said it had taken cognisance of Buhari’s comments on the abduction and therefore demanded sustained and effective actions for the rescue of the girls who had spent over 406 days in Boko Haram captivity.

The coalition in a statement in Abuja on Monday signed by BBOG Co-coordinators, Oby Ezekwesili and Hadiza Usman, reiterated that it is the constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government to secure all citizens.

It said, “We wish to publicly announce to our incoming President that if by May 29, 2015 our girls are not rescued, our movement shall immediately seek a public engagement within one week of the inauguration to receive an update on the Federal Government plans for the rescue of our 219 Chibok girls.

“We reiterate the fundamental basis of our advocacy throughout the past one year — that it is the constitutional mandate and therefore the responsibility of our Federal Government to secure all citizens. We shall therefore unequivocally continue our demand for the rescue of our #ChibokGirls and all other abducted citizens of our country.

“We demand urgent, sustained, focused and effective actions that are designed for success from the incoming administration.”

The movement noted that the incoming President had, on several occasions, publicly declared the issue of insecurity especially in North-East Nigeria as one of his top priorities on assumption of office.

It welcomed Buhari’s expression of dissatisfaction with the way the military had prosecuted the counterinsurgency effort, and expressed its determination to hold anyone who is the President of Nigeria accountable for the duty they owe the country and citizens “as part of our growing democratic accountability traditions by the incoming administration.”

The BBOG lamented that Nigerians would be celebrating the second Children’s Day since the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted.

“May 27th is Children’s Day in Nigeria. Painfully, this year’s celebration would be the second Children’s Day without our #ChibokGirls. This year’s theme is ‘Violence Against Children,'” it stated.

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