The members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) advocacy yesterday called on the federal government to speedy up the process of rescuing the abducted Chibok girls as it identified the speaker in the Boko Haram video as Dorcas Yakubu.
In a statement signed by leaders of the group, former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu, the BBOG said: “After listening to the call of Dorcas Yakubu, we demand an immediate, transparent, action and results-oriented response plan by the government.
“Today, 853 days since the abduction of our #ChibokGirls, we woke up to a video on the state of our girls. We are left with mixed feelings of grief and strengthened hope as the chilling words continue to sink in.”
The message of Dorcas delivered in the Kibaku dialect is translated as follows:
“Our parents please exercise patience. We are suffering here. There is no kind of suffering we haven’t seen. Our sisters are injured; some have wounds on their heads and bodies.
“Tell the government to give them their people so we can also come to be with you. We are all children and we don’t know what to do. The suffering is too much, please endeavour as we also have exercised patience.
“There is nothing you, or we can do about this but to get their people back to them, so we can go home. Exercise patience as we also have endured.”
BBOG statement continues, “After listening to the call of Dorcas Yakubu, we demand an immediate, transparent, action and results-oriented response plan by the Government. We state categorically that the excuse of a split within the terrorists’ ranks or a period of validation of the authenticity of their claims will not suffice this time. We shall press these demands with a march to the Villa in the next few days.
“Nothing short of the Nigerian state being in contact with the parents, confirming identities of our girls, providing psychosocial support where necessary, and most importantly, articulating an action plan will be acceptable.
“Today, 28 months since the abduction, we call on the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, China, Australia, Israel, agencies like the United Nations and African Union, and all who previously expressed intentions to support the rescue efforts, to reengage and adopt a strategic rescue position. As global citizens, this is the least our #ChibokGirls deserve.
“We appeal to all citizens empathetic to the cause of our girls to hold them and their parents in prayers, and commit to joining our march to the Villa in the coming week. Our government, and the World, cannot continue to fail these innocent young women whose only crime is their decision to be educated. If we do, we would have failed to defend our civilization and shared humanity.”
