The concerned mothers, fathers and community members from Chibok, Borno State, on Monday, congratulated Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu as the new President and Commander in Chief of this great country, on May 29, 2023.
In a letter issued on behalf of Concerned Parents of Chibok Girls by Yana Galang (mother to Rifkatu Galang still in captivity) and Zanna Lawan (father to Aisha Lawan still in captivity), the parents begged Tinubu to help them in release the remaining girls still in captivity,
“Mr. President, as you are well aware, our predicament started in 2014 when 276 of our daughters from Chibok Government Secondary School were abducted,” the letter stated.
See full statement below:
President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
President and Commander in Chief,
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
State House,
Abuja.
Your Excellency,
Congratulations Our President and our Son, Vice-President
Kindly look into the case of our daughters still in Boko Haram captivity
We the mothers, fathers and community members from Chibok, Borno State write to warmly congratulate you, Your Excellency, on your well deserved inauguration as the new President and Commander in Chief of this great country, on May 29, 2023.
We are also using this medium to extend similar greetings to our son and your Vice, Vice President Kashim Shettima, as we wish your administration success.
Mr. President, as you are well aware, our predicament started in 2014 when 276 of our daughters from Chibok Government Secondary School were abducted.
It has been years of pain and agony for us and we are disheartened that nine years later and a few months before the end of the immediate past administration, 92 of these girls remain in Boko Haram captivity, subjected to unimaginable ordeal and abuse at the hands of their captors.
In your inaugural speech, Your Excellency, we are gratified that despite not making a direct pledge particularly regarding our plight in Chibok, your concern to have a secure country was noted.
According to you: “Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence.
“To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security DOCTRINE and its ARCHITECTURE.
“We shall invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number. We shall provide, better training, equipment, pay and firepower.”
It is from this premise therefore, we the concerned parents of Chibok humbly seek Your Excellency’s attention to once again beam a searchlight to the recovery of the remaining 92 of our kidnapped daughters.
According to your predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari in his own inaugural speech on May 29, 2015, and we quote: “… but we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents, this government will do all it can to rescue them alive.”
Recalling also, that the immediate former President on April 14th, 2019, again, promised and we quote: “We will not rest until all the remaining girls are back and reunited with their families. I made this promise when I became president, and I will keep it.”
On April 14th, 2021, a statement titled “Chibok Girls Still on Our Minds” was also released and further reminded us of the former President promise and reassured us that all our girls will be rescued and reintegrated back into our communities.
With the baton changing under the same political party now in 2023, history will no doubt be kind to you, your family, your government and your party if these statements from your predecessor are achieved under you, moreso, with our son, Vice President Shettima.
Mr. President, we seek you to be the light that will illuminate our darkness, end our writhing pains, dry our tears, and free us from the shackles of sadness, sorrow, and anguish this trajectory has brought into our existence. When we marked the ninth year’s remembrance of the abduction this year, we didn’t think we would hold any more commemoration, and the truth is that we don’t want to, but, regrettably, so it seems, except you come to our rescue and give us succour, another sober commemoration knocks.
We wait patiently for this succour as our acceptable alternative.
Yours sincerely,
Yana Galang (mother to Rifkatu Galang still in captivity) and Zanna Lawan (father to Aisha Lawan still in captivity) for and behalf of Mothers and Fathers of the abducted Chibok girls.
