File photo of the abducted Chibok girls in 2014
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to securing the release of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls and Leah Sharibu, assuring Nigerians that the girls have not been forgotten despite the passage of time.
A total of 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.
Eleven years later, 87 girls are still believed to be in captivity.
Similarly, Leah Sharibu was among the 110 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic State West Africa Province fighters from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018.
While others were released, Leah, the only Christian among them, remains in captivity.
Speaking during a multi-agency meeting on anti-kidnapping, organised in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Major Gen Adamu Laka, stated that while some of the kidnapped girls have been rescued over the years, efforts to free the remaining ones have not relented.
He said, “Since when they were kidnapped, those who were rescued were not just rescued one time; It was a gradual process. Negotiations were done, trying to get them out. Operations were conducted.
“Luckily, at the beginning of that, towards the year after they were kidnapped, I was in the theatre, and I know what the military and intelligence agencies put into rescue the initial set of the Chibok girls.
“We haven’t given up hope on them; some of them were married to some of the insurgents. Some have come out. But let our focus not only be on the Chibok girls. There are others that have been kidnapped aid workers, Nigerian aid workers who were kidnapped. We’ve rescued some that are working for UNICEF.”
Laka noted that the silence in the media does not equate to inaction or indifference from the government.
He said, “We’ve rescued some that are working for UNHCR and IOM and so on. Do you understand? So, we haven’t relented on our efforts.
“There is the issue of this lady, Leah Shaibu. So, not because it’s not always in the press.
“We are not always talking about it. It doesn’t mean we don’t care. It doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about them. We are still on it. Our prayer is that the whole 87 or 80 plus that are left will be rescued by God’s grace. ”
Laka also provided updates on the activities of the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell, domiciled at the National Counterterrorism Centre, which was commissioned by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on December 19, 2024.
He explained that since its activation, the cell has served as a central hub for intelligence sharing and coordination, supporting military and law enforcement agencies across the country to respond effectively to kidnapping incidents.
To strengthen its response, he said the centre has launched a state-level expansion initiative that involves deploying anti-kidnap liaison officers from the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The primary purpose of the programme is to close the gap between national-level coordination and state-level response,” he said, noting that the effort aims to build direct operational linkages and ensure that real-time intelligence and local knowledge from field commands inform strategic national decisions.
The Punch
