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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
THE revelation that six of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram two years ago at Chibok Secondary Schools have died has raised fresh fears among the parents and relations of the missing girls.
Amina Ali Nkeki, the first of the 219 schoolgirls to be rescued by the military troops and Civilian JTF last Wednesday in the remote Baale village near Sambisa forest, Boko Haram’s biggest base, had reportedly revealed that six of the missing girls are dead.
“She said many of the girls abducted by Boko Haram are still in the Sambisa bush, some of them moving from one place to another but sadly she said six of them are dead,” a Civilian JTF member who participated in the operation that rescued Amina told Sunday Sun.
But the reaction to this revelation from Chibok community has been sharp. “This is sad news because we had hoped all our daughters will be found and returned home someday alive,” Adamu Chibok, uncle to one of the abducted teenagers lamented.
Adamu said in the past, many of the parents had always been hopeful their daughters would return in future while some relations also “hold the view that some of the girls may not return alive.”
He said their hope was rekindled with the news of the discovery of Amina, a development which gave courage to many Chibok residents to intensify their prayers about the girls. “But the news from Amina wasn’t a good one to the people at all,” he stated. “Most of us don’t want to discuss this with the parents because there is this fear that the six girls that died could be daughters of any of them,” he said, adding that the situation had created fears even among relations.
Efforts to get the reaction of Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima after receiving Amina in her office from the acting General Commanding Officer (GOC), 7 Division of the Nigerian Army Maiduguri, Brig Gen Victor Ezugwu, did not yield result. He told journalists he was rather praying and looking forward to the rescue of the other girls. Security sources at the governor’s office said Shettima had ordered immediate medical attention from two specialists including a pediatric doctor, to examine Amina and her four-month-old baby.
