Borno Women Blast Jonathan, Vows to Enter Sambisa Forest In Search of Abducted Girls

Women in Borno State have accused President Goodluck Jonathan of not doing enough to free the over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, last week, just as they expressed their willingness to go into the notorious Sambisa Games Reserve Forest, the enclave of the terrorist Boko Haram sect, in search of the girls.
Addressing a press conference Wednesday in Maiduguri, the women, drawn from various women’s associations in the troubled state, and led by Prof. Hauwa Abdu Biu, asked: They said saying had the daughter of the president been abducted, all security agencies would have been in overdrive to rescue her.
“Is the president telling us that the lives of over 200 girls abducted in the bush since a week ago is not important?
They said “We are ready to go into the bush and appeal to the Boko Haram sect to release our children to us.”
They explained that several thousands of women were ready to go into the forest in search of the pupils and they were only waiting to be led by the military into the notorious forest.
The women, who were all dressed in black gowns and head-ties, said had the parents who went into the bush earlier to look for the abducted schoolgirls been given security cover, the girls by now might have been reunited with their families.
“What stopped the security men from giving security back-up to the parents to go further into the bush?” they demanded.
One of the parents of the abducted girls, in a telephone interview with reporters in Maiduguri, said they had learnt that the insurgents had separated the girls into two groups – the mature ones and immature girls.
“The mature ones, we learnt, they will be moving into a different camp and would be forced into marriage while we do not know the fate of those they believe are immature,” he said.
The parent, who did not want his name in print, added that the news had saddened him further, as his daughter is 19 years old and should be among those that might be forced into marriage.
He lamented that all he could hope for is God’s mercy to make his daughter come back home safely.
According to him, the parents were not happy that no effort had been made to invade the camp of the insurgents up till now.
He said the last time the parents went into the Sambisa Forest in search of their children, they had to turn back when they were told that the insurgents were well armed and might kill all of them if they had no military escort.