Borno Women Give Jonathan Ultimatum On Abducted Schoolgirls

 

It has been more than a week since 230 secondary school girls were abducted in Chibok, Borno State. Women in the volatile north-eastern state of Nigeria on Wednesday has given the President Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government an ultimatum to secure the release of all the girls from their abductors.

According to the women, failure to secure the kidnapped girls from captivity would make them tag the federal government as an accomplice in the abduction of their children.
It could be recalled that parents of the kidnapped girls had on Monday cried out about their missing daughters saying 230 girls as against the earlier announced 129, were still missing.
The schoolgirls have now spent 11days in the jungle enclaves of the insurgents.

One of the leaders of the women, Aishatu Ngulde, while speaking at a press briefing organised by the Baobab for Women’s Human Rights in Maiduguri, said they are not impressed by the silent attitude being put  up by leaders in Abuja since the abduction of the final year secondary school girls.

 
Also, Hauwa Biu, spokesperson of the women’s group, said the kidnapping of the schoolgirls can be described as “acts considered inhuman and affects efforts to enhance girl child education and development in the state and country at large”.
She added that “the abduction of innocent young girls violates their human rights, is a crime against humanity and is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
“We women in Borno state condemn it in totality, as such acts of violence, attacks on schools deny children their rights to learn in a safe environment, thereby jeopardising their future."

 
Other women, who spoke at the occasion, expressed their sympathy to all families affected by the insurgency. They implored the insurgents and their sponsors to go to the dialogue table and sought out their differences with government rather than perpetrating violent crimes.