The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to secure the release of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls and Leah Sharibu, promising Nigerians that the girls will not be forgotten despite the passage of time.
Boko Haram abducted 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.
Eleven years later, 87 girls are still thought to remain in captivity.
On February 19, 2018, Islamic State West Africa Province gunmen seized 110 schoolgirls from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, including Leah Sharibu.
While the others were released, Leah, the only Christian among them, remained in captivity.
Speaking at a multi-agency anti-kidnapping meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, Major General Adamu Laka, the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, stated that while some of the kidnapped girls have been rescued over the years, efforts to free the remaining ones have not stopped.
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 rescuing 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 mentioned 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 presented updates on the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell, which was established at the National Counterterrorism Centre and commissioned by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on December 19, 2024.
He explained that since its inception, the cell has served as a focal point for intelligence sharing and coordination, assisting military and law enforcement organisations around the country in responding effectively to kidnapping occurrences.
To improve its reaction, he stated that the centre has begun a state-level expansion effort, which includes the deployment of anti-kidnapping liaison officers from the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
