Esther Yakubu, One of the mothers of the abducted Chibok
girls, Dorcas, has opined that President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration is “more clueless than Jonathan’s.”
She lamented after seeing her daughter speak in the new video
released by the Boko Haram insurgents demanding swap of their detained
members with the Chibok girls.
“The Chibok girls must be rescued, they must have their lives, the future that Boko Haram tries to truncate ”
“I wanted her to have the best of education, I planned to sponsor her
education to whatever level she wanted, but she could not sit for her
final examinations because she was abducted”.
“Boko Haram in the video asked the government to release their
members so that they could release our girls. If the government knows
that it cannot handle the insurgency, it should invite other countries.
It is not a crime to seek assistance in a war. It is a shame for them to
allow our daughters to languish in captivity for over two years.
“I don’t regret sending her to school, but I regret putting her in
boarding school. If she was a day student, she would be home with me
that night. The abduction affected her because she was in boarding
school,” Yakubu added.
She said apart from her daughter, she recognised about 20 other girls.
“I recognised Saratu Ayuba, Awa Ishaiya and others. In that video,
Dorcas has grown up a little and she is slimmer. I cried when I saw her
in the video. That is only change I observe, but I thank God she is
alive.”
Dorcas’ father, Kabu Yakubu, urged the government to release Boko Haram
detainees in exchange for the Chibok girls, adding that the demand had
boosted his hope that his daughter and others would eventually make it
home.
“I will sleep well because since she was kidnapped, I have never seen
her in other videos released. But today, I saw her in the video, and my
joy was rekindled.
“What we have been telling the government is what Boko Haram demanded in
the video. We are appealing to the government to help us to release
Boko Haram detainees so they can release our daughters. In the video, my
daughter was begging the government to negotiate with the terrorists
and they (Boko Haram) said unless the government releases their members
who were being detained in Abuja, Lagos and Maiduguri prisons, they
won’t release the girls.
