• ‘How to sustain peace post-Boko Haram era’Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri have discovered another abducted Chibok girl, Rakiya Abubakar, with her six-month-old baby during an investigation of arrested Boko Haram terrorist suspects in the Alagarno area of Damboa Local Council of Borno State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usmanon, as saying yesterday in a statement in Abuja, that a preliminary investigation discovered “she is the daughter of Abubakar Gali Mulima and Habiba Abubakar of Chibok.”
He went on: “She further stated that she was a student of Senior Secondary School Class 3B (SS 3B) before her abduction along with her colleagues on April 14, 2014 by the Boko Haram terrorists.
“Rakiya Abubakar is presently undergoing further medical investigation and would soon be released to the Borno government.” President Muhammadu Buhari expressed happiness over the development.In a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President noted that the recovery reawakened hope that the rest of the girls would be found and reunited with their families, friends and communities.
He commended the military for the diligent investigation that led to the recent feat, urging them to sustain the spirit.
Buhari assured Nigerians that government would to do all within its powers to assist the military in locating the rest of the girls and eradicating terrorism in the country.
But beyond the optimism of the other Chibok girls being found, there is the need for the government to make a definite move to look for them. Looking for them should be a vital part of the next phase of the campaign in the Boko Haram war after the defeat of the terrorists, rather than waiting for one of the abductees to show up before remembering that they are still alive.
Even with the complete routing of the Boko Haram stronghold in the notorious Sambisa forest, only 23 of the over 200 missing Chibok girls have been found, leaving most of them unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, the Theatre Commander, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, said to win the peace after the Boko Haram war in the North East, a multi-sectoral engagement in “intelligence and re-constructions projects” must be done.
Irabor spoke in Maiduguri while parading 10 former Boko Haram commanders along with their foot soldiers.
