Chibok girls: Labour tasks FG, United Nations to intensify efforts

Bimbola Oyesola
IndustriALL Global Union, a front line global labour body has mandated Nigerian government and the United Nations to intensify the security measures to liberate the abducted Chibok girls‎.
At a press briefing to mark the two years forceful abduction of the 276 schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State, North East of Nigeria. Issa Aremu, the Chairperson of the IndustriALL Global Union Sub Saharan Africa‎, said
Organised Labour considered the continued captivity of the girls as an injury to the movement and would not relent until the girls are liberated from the clutches of the criminal abductors.
‎He said, “It is exactly two years, the Boko Haram terrorists brutally and cowardly abducted the 276 school girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State, 57 of these girls luckily escape‎d, but 219 still remain missing till date. Since then hundreds have been further abducted. Whoever kidnaps a girl child kidnaps a future. 219 in captivity for 639 days is an assault on the future of humanity. Not less than 17 of their parents have reportedly lost their lives as a result of the trauma. Many are living in daily agony.”
The Global labour body commended efforts of President Muhammad Buhari administration to smash the dens of the Boko Haram terrorists, stating that as of today, no known territory of Nigeria is under the heel of the criminal gangs masquerading as religious crusaders.
He however noted that war against terror in Nigeria and anywhere should not be the war to reclaim territories but to regain and restore lives, rescue the Chibok girls to return to their homes and schools.
‎While saluting the leadership of the BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) and international labour movement for keeping the memory of the girls alive, Aremu said the labour movement considered the 219 missing girls as future workers, mothers and not just statistics.
He lamented that global terrorism is increasingly making the world of work more precarious, as thousands of workers in Nigeria, France, Belgium, Syria, Iraq had been brutally abducted and killed by terrorists who see defenseless workers as “soft targets.
He added further, “The International Labour Organisation (ILO), must therefore redouble efforts with all the international agencies to rid the world of terror. Social dialogue and negotiated settlements are tested ILO’s mechanisms for resolving social conflicts, not senseless violence in which innocent Chibok girls are victims. Nothing justifies criminal abductions. Chibok girls are missing, but they are not forgotten until they are rescued.”