No fewer than 20 parents of Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS) Chibok, Borno State have died from health complications induced by the protracted wait for the return of their children.
This was disclosed by Allen Manasseh, strategic team member of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, yesterday.
In April 2014, 276 schoolgirls in Chibok who were preparing for their final examinations were abducted in the middle of the night by Boko Haram insurgents. At least, 112 of the girls are still in captivity seven years after.
Manasseh who featured on a live television programme accused the government of not doing enough to address the concerns of the parents.
“The level of engagement with the parents should change; there’s no date on the issue of rescue. We have over 20 parents that died already from blood pressure-related complications, renal failure as a result of blood pressure; twenty plus parents died, nothing happened.
“The level of engagement with the Chibok parents is nothing to write home about. The Chibok girls issue was domiciled in the Ministry of Women Affairs. What authority or administrative function does the minister of women affairs have to do with security, rescue, or anything about the Chibok girls. The ministry can support the Chibok parents in terms of welfare, but this issue is more critical and it should be domiciled in at least, the office of the Vice President. That’s what we asked for.
“It was domiciled in the office of women affairs and nobody knows what’s happening there. Periodically, all that happens is when it’s the commemoration of April 14, some people will be mobilised to go to Chibok with some bags of rice and some change to be given to Chibok parents.”
BBOG has renewed its campaign for the release of the remaining schoolgirls.