Group implores Tinubu to ensure rescue of remaining Chibik schoolgirls

The Northern Christian Youth Professionals on Friday urged Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to try to secure the release of the remaining kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.

Tinubu is the next president of Nigeria.

The petition, like others in the past, comes nine years after the notorious Boko Haram extremists abducted 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.

Local and international media outlets expressed indignation and condemnation over the kidnapping, and political figures and activists put pressure on the former president Goodluck Jonathan to free the girls while providing information and technical assistance.

After the Jonathan administration ended and Muhammadu Buhari, the current president, took office in 2015, the pressure persisted.

However, despite the government of Buhari’s fervent efforts and interventions to facilitate the girls’ release after the kidnapping, approximately 100 of the girls are still unaccounted for.

According to Amnesty International, there are currently 98 pupils being held hostage by the extreme Islamic cult.

READ ALSO:Again, Nigerian govt vows to rescue Leah Sharibu, 96 Chibok girls

In a statement issued in Abuja, on Friday, the chairman of Northern Christian Youth Professionals, Isaac Abrak, joined Nigerians and the rest of the world to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the schoolgirls’ abduction.

While concluding that the Buhari government tried its best, by having some of the girls released, Abrak enjoined the president-elect to make the freedom of the remaining captives one of his priorities.

Abrak said, “We remember the pain and trauma that the families and loved ones of the abducted girls have had to endure over the years. Our hearts go out to them on this solemn occasion.

“We commend the outgoing government of President Muhammadu Buhari for securing the release of some of the Chibok girls, but we urge the incoming government, led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prioritise the safe return of the remaining girls from Boko Haram captivity.

“We also urge the incoming government to strengthen security in schools, particularly in Northern Nigeria, to prevent the continued abduction of school children. The recent abduction of 10 school children in Awon community, Kachia Local Government Area in Kaduna State on the 4th of this month is a sad reminder that this problem is still with us,” Abrak noted.

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