As
people from all works of lives gathered in most major city of western countries
to mark the year
abduction of over 219 schoolgirls in Chibok Nigeria. The
protesters popularly known as Chibok Ambassadors staged a protest march in the
capital city of Nigeria, while the Professor Wole Soyinka and the House of
Representatives called on the government to strengthen their efforts to bring
back the missing schoolgirls.
At a
discussion held in Lagos, the Professor urged all Nigerians to join hands with
the government and the security operative in ensuring that the children were
found and released
In
his words Soyinka said “We must make sure that such assault on our humanity
does not happen again. The survival of humanity and of the nation must remain
paramount.
“Terrorism
is not a Nigerian phenomenon alone and may not be going away soon. However, we
must not get used to it. Our children are being dehumanised. I believe that our
responsibility is to assist by becoming vigilant. “We must become
policemen/women and vigilante of our communities. We must encourage others to
be protective members of their community.
In
his words Utomi said humanity, the world over, was a shared one and anything that
diminished any human and did not touch others was bad.
He
said: “Terror is not something we should accept. We must tackle terror and not
sit in our homes complaining.
“We
must stand up to enforce what we demand. The measure of the progress of any
civilization is how they hold the dignity of the human person.
“It’s
not just about rescuing the girls alone but about staying together and fighting
for what is right.”
Utomi
suggested that plans must be put in place that would help rehabilitate the
girls when they eventually return.
Okei-Odumakin also the President
of Campaign for Democracy said more need to be done to improve in securing
lives and property in Nigeria. In her speech, she said, the whole world stood
in unison to call for the release of the chibok schoolgirls.
“We
will continue to create awareness and to insist that our military gets better
welfare to boost their morale. We want to tell the terrorists that we can never
give up our girls.
“We
also want to challenge the President-elect on seeing that the girls are
re-united with their parents.”
Chibok
Ambassadors
In
Abuja, 219 schoolgirls marched through the streets starting from Unity Fountain
to Ministry of Education, chanting and demanding the rescue of the remaining
219 girls, who were yet to be released by the insurgents.
Tears
were visible on the faces of the girls as they recounted their grievances to
the handful of officials, who met them outside the ministry building.
They
said they will never be tired of fighting for the rights of their kidnapped
“sisters” who cannot speak for themselves.
Each
girl carried a placard bearing the name of a missing Chibok girls.
“Three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days
and we are still calling out loud and clear, stronger than ever we will not get
tired of calling for the release of our sisters,” said Rebecca Ishaku, one of
the girls, who escaped from Boko Haram’s custody.
The
ministry initially locked them out. But when the girls continued to sing and
demanded to speak with the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, he
sent his Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr. Muhammed Umara to address them.
My heart bleeds for my kidnapped sisters, Here is a poem I wrote for my sisters
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