Source: The Senate on Thursday summoned the National Security Adviser and all the service chiefs to brief it at a closed session on their efforts so far to recover the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.
Also, the House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Federal Government to set a target for security agencies to rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls held in captivity by Boko Haram insurgents.
The red chamber did not, however, give any date on when the service chiefs would appear before it but observed a one-minute silence in honour of parents of the abducted girls that had died.The Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, gave the position of the House after an exhaustive debate on a motion to mark the second anniversary of the abduction of the girls.
The senators took the decision following the deliberation on a motion moved by the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, tagged, “The Abduction of Chibok School Girls- Two years after.”
Melaye lamented the plight of the girls and their parents, saying the Federal Government could not be said to have succeeded until the girls were rescued.
He said, “We cannot succeed as a government until those girls are released. Getting back the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls into the society is important and a must for our security agencies.
“The abduction of over 200 girls by Boko Haram has wrongly affected us as a people as could be seen in the international condemnation of the government’s slow reaction to this unprecedented outrage committed against Nigerian womanhood.
“Never before has such criminal viciousness been perpetrated on Nigerian womanhood.”
Other senators who supported the motion called on the Federal Government to go beyond the yearly ritual of celebrating the anniversary of the abduction.
They called on the government to explore every available avenue to ensure that the girls were rescued.
The Senate also commended the BringBackOurGirls group for what they described as its doggedness and consistency in the campaign for the release of the girls.
The upper chamber which said it empathised with parents of the girls, also charged security agencies to ensure the girls’ freedom, just as it urged the Borno State Government to rebuild the Chibok Secondary School in the interest of students in the community.
Adopting the prayers of the motion, the Senate mandated security agencies to do everything possible to ensure the release of the girls.
The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, however, introduced humour into the entire scenario by accusing the sponsor of the motion, Melaye, of using the campaign for the release of the Chibok girls to win election to the Senate.
Akpabio said, “I wonder why those who led protests against the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan to rescue the girls have suddenly kept mum.
“I remember in 2014, Dino Melaye used to wear a T-shirt and he led the protest to ensure that the abducted schoolgirls were released. He was always at the National Fountain to lead a protest against the government.
“He eventually cashed in on it and won elections. Other people in the APC did the same thing.”
On its part, the House of Representatives resolved to send a “high-powered delegation” to Chibok to commiserate with the parents and relatives of the girls as a way of passing the message that the legislature shared in their pains.
The motion on “The Need to Intensify the Search and Rescue of the Chibok School Girls”, was moved by the All Progressives Congress member representing Damboa/Chibok Federal Constituency of Borno State, Mrs. Asabe Bashir.
Dogara stated that searching for the girls had reached a point where government must set a target on when to rescue the girls to underscore the urgency of the situation.
“A time has come for us as an institution to insist that the executive should set targets for the rescue of the girls.
“We have to set targets so that we don’t lose the sense of urgency that is required to free the girls,” Dogara added.
He particularly commended members of the BBOG campaigners for keeping the fate of the girls on the front burner.
“We must also commend the security forces of our country, who have been toiling day and night, searching for these girls,” he said.
While moving her motion in an emotion-laden voice, Bahir said a dark cloud had enveloped the world of the parents of the girls, two years on, without a word of assurance on how they would re-connect with their loved ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment