Army, Chibok parents disagree on identity of second rescued girl

Parents of abducted Chibok school girls have denied that the second girl rescued by the Nigerian military is one of the girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

But the Nigerian Army insists that the girl, Serah Luka is among girls that were abducted by Boko Haram members on April 14th 2014.

A senior Nigerian military source said it was “beyond reasonable doubt” that the schoolgirl was among the 219 held by the Islamists since the kidnapping on April 14, 2014.

According to Yakubu Nkeki, the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents group, the military contacted him before an announcement was made on Wednesday about the discovery of the first girl, Amina Ali but did not do the same with the second girl.

“We were able to identify her and then establish her parents, but there was no call before Nigeria’s Army announced late Thursday that a second schoolgirl had been rescued”.

The girl was rescued alongside 97 women and children earlier on Thursday in the Damboa area of Borno State.
She reportedly told troops and civilian vigilantes she was a pastor’s daughter originally from Madagali, in neighbouring Adamawa State, and had been in Chibok to sit for her exams.

Speaking on the girl, Nkeki said his records showed only two girls have the surname Luka.

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“These are Kauna Luka Yana and Naomi Luka Dzakwa. Among the list of parents we have only four priests and none of them is Luka,” he added.

“Among the girls none of them is from Madagali. They were either from Chibok, Damboa, Askira and Uba (all in Borno state). So I can say… that this girl is not among the abducted Chibok girls.

“We were never contacted by the military for verification of the girl’s identity before the announcement was made.”

but the military insisted, that the military personnel who carried out the rescue operation and the civilian vigilantes who assisted them and those who know the girl confirmed that she is among those abducted”.

“We can only change our position if the principal of the school or the government of Borno state come out and refute this established identity of the girl.”

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