The military authorities have taken the
293 women and girls rescued by the
Special Forces during a raid on the
dreaded Sambisa Forest to the
University of Maiduguri Teaching
Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State.
An intelligence officer
, who made this
known to one of our correspondents on
Wednesday, also said the women and
girls were undergoing a series of tests,
including pregnancy and HIV in the
hospital.
The officer also said that seven of the
girls had gunshot injuries which were
being treated by the medical officials of
the UMTH.
Findings indicated that out of the 293
ladies, 200 were aged between 13 and 18,
the age brackets of the Chibok
schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram
insurgents on April 14, 2014.
When one of our correspondents
contacted the Director, Defence
Information, Maj. Gen. Chris. Olukolade,
to confirm the officer’s information on
the rescued females, he said, “We will
talk about it when we are through; we are
busy moving them off the line of duty for
a thorough screening.
“The military would do everything to take
care of them and make them feel not
traumatised.”
Our source explained that the military
would on Thursday (today) commence a
holistic investigation of the identities of
the girls and women after the tests and
treatment.
Another officer told The PUNCH that the
DHQ was being careful with saying who
the women and girls were to avoid
mistakes.
He said, “This is a sensitive matter that
has to be handled with serious caution.
You cannot say before the
commencement of the investigation that
they are the Chibok girls or not.
“Another thing is that you cannot start
asking them if they are from Chibok
because of the harrowing experiences or
trauma they have gone through.
“Clearly, it would be too early for
anybody to say that Chibok girls are
among them or not; they are under
custody; they went through trauma and
we want to them to have some relief.
Those with medical requirements are
being treated.
“But the military is very careful. There is
the need to ascertain their true identities.
“There would be individual interrogation
of each of those rescued, to ascertain
their link with the sect.”
However, the Borno State Government
said on Wednesday that most of the
ladies were from Bumsiri, a village in
Damboa Local Government Area of the
state.
The state’s Commissioner for
Information, Mohammed Bulama, told
journalists in Maiduguri that, “The girls
and women rescued are our daughters
just like the Chibok girls. We have to
commend the military for liberating them,
hoping that the rest will equally be
liberated.
“Though everyone had thought they were
the Chibok girls, but we should not lose
sight that they are as important as the
Chibok girls.
“At the moment, we are looking forward
to the time the 293 women/girls would
be handed over to us so that we can
begin the process of rehabilitating and
reintegrating them into the society.”
Also, the Borno State Governor, Kashim
Shettima, described the military operation
as “gratifying regardless of whether or
not the rescued women formed part of
the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by
insurgents in 2014.”
Shettima, in a statement by his Special
Adviser on Media, Isa Gusau, said, “I am
so full of excitement and gratitude to
God. I commend our gallant armed forces
for this great feat. For me, the lives,
safety and welfare of all citizens of Borno
State are of equal importance.
“However, this rescue is also very dear to
me. I am as pleased as much as I would
be when the Chibok schoolgirls are
rescued by the special grace of God. I am
very optimistic, prayerful and supportive
of the military’s ongoing rescue and
counter-insurgency operations.
“We won’t give up on the Chibok
schoolgirls like I said two weeks ago. No
sane parent gives up on a missing child.
“I have daughters and I know the love of
a parent to the girl child. For now, it is
better to allow the military handle things,
conduct their investigations and
ascertain the identities of those rescued
but irrespective of the identities of the
girls, we are very happy that they have
been rescued whether they are citizens of
Borno or anywhere else.
“We have abiding faith in God that He
will see us through these times and we
shall overcome the temporary but
traumatic moment of grief. God will set
Chibok girls and all Nigerians free from
fear and the brutality of Boko Haram
insurgents and others in their league.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress
has appealed to the abductors of the
Chibok girls to embrace reconciliation
and release them.
A Deputy President of the NLC, Mr. Peters
Adeyemi, said, “We use the opportunity
to join in the call for the release of the
Chibok girls; we plead with those who
abducted them to release them in the
spirit of national rebirth and lay down
their arms to give way to a reconciliatory
dialogue for peace and stability of the
nation.”
