PRESS STATEMENT
Abuja, October 31, 2014
We wish to commiserate with all Nigerians who lost loved ones in Mubi Local Government Area of Adamawa State and neighboring communities as the towns and villages came under heavy and horrendous assaults from the Boko Haram insurgents in the last few days. We also condole families of the victims of the Gombe bomb blast.
We are extremely shocked and gravely perturbed that the insurgency seems to be engulfing more cities within the North-East zone even at a time the Federal Government confidently announced a ceasefire of its counter terrorism war. Let no one pretend that we are not facing the most substantial threat to the integrity and existence of our country.
What more extreme manifestations are we waiting for than the evidence of a rampaging group of terrorists carrying out heinous carnage in Mubi in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe and Gombe barely two weeks after the Chief of Defense Staff publicly conveyed a stand down order to our troops who were in the front prosecuting the war.
We, like most Nigerians, are at a loss on what the latest development means for our counter insurgency war and for the safety of our citizens and territory.
Has the purported ‘ceasefire’ failed, in the assessment of our military and the Federal Government?
What explains the gruesome reality that after the “ceasefire” announcement of October 17th, the terrorists have been attacking many more communities, especially in Borno and Adamawa states and today, Gombe which was previously relatively peaceful?
How do we explain the escalating number of innocent citizens being killed or taken hostage after they had been informed by our Government of a negotiated truce and détente?
Has our Federal Government, through the military, given a new and countermanding order to our soldiers to resume the war and protect our citizens and territory?
We do not speak without factual distressing context on this subject. Our movement is privy to several on-the-scene reports of the bloody and horrendous attacks on Mubi as told by affected Nigerians.
For example, a family of two of our abducted #ChibokGirls was involved in an accident yesterday in which two of their daughters sustained injuries while fleeing Mubi. Another case concerns a member of our Movement who has lost contact with about thirty members of his nuclear and extended families resident in Mubi until yesterday’s gruesome attack by terrorists. Even more heart wrenching are confirmed reports of Internally Displaced Persons camped in Mubi town who are yet again on the run now, unsure of destinations to find safety.
These are just a few of the many dehumanizing experiences our citizens are experiencing without effective support from our authorities.While we in #BringBackOurGirls movement will continue to fiercely hope for the best outcome despite these troubling developments, we firmly DEMAND that the Federal Government moves immediately to protect and restore the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
We also DEMAND that the worsening humanitarian conditions of all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) be immediately addressed and their suffering ameliorated.
Lastly, we DEMAND the immediate rescue of our 219 Chibok Girls. we cannot but remind our Federal Government that time is running out and that these endangered daughters of our nation have been in travail for too long.
Today is sadly DAY 200 since their abduction on April 14th, 2014. Following the high hopes and anxiety that emanated from the Federal Government two weeks old announcement that our Girls would be brought back within days, a number of their agonizing Parents have been hospitalized for hypertension. What this means is that our Government must urgently avoid a situation that would be fatal for these long suffering families of our Chibok Girls.
To our President, we have but one message from all the members of our Movement as well as Nigerians who share in our cause. It is this: “Mr. President, it is time to end all distractions that evidently stand in the way of Nigeria winning this counter insurgency war under your leadership. The only venture worthy of our Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces at this CRITICAL TIME that portends danger for the future of our country is to unflaggingly concentrate on the security and welfare of the people of Nigeria. According to our 1999 Constitution, that is besides any other, the primary purpose of government. Therefore, nothing else matters to Nigerians during these moments of daily national tragedies, Mr President.”
God bless Nigeria.
Obiageli (Oby) Ezekwesili
Hadiza Bala-Usman
Hosea Abana Tsambido
Dauda Iliya
Saudatu Mahdi
Maryam Uwais
Jibrin Ibrahim
Bukky Shonibare
Aisha Yesufu
Maureen Kabrik
Miriam Ikunaiye
Florence Ozor
Olatunji Olanrewaju
Rotimi Olawale
For and on behalf of #BringBackOurGirl
