Bauchi has resettled 2m refugees – Yuguda
By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Abuja
President Goodluck Jonathan has reassured the Chibok community that his government is doing everything possible to rescue the over 200 girls abducted from a school in the area last April.
Speaking at a meeting with the parents of the abducted girls, some escapees and leaders of the community at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the president appealed for patience, understanding and cooperation.
He said: “We solicit your maximum cooperation. Let us work together. Evil can never overcome well. We will surely overcome Boko Haram.
“Anyone who gives you the impression that we are aloof and not doing what we are supposed to do to get the girls out is not being truthful.
“Our commitment is not just to get the girls out; it is also to rout Boko Haram completely from Nigeria. But we are very, very mindful of the safety of the girls. We want to return them all alive to their parents. If they are killed in any rescue effort, then we have achieved nothing.”
The president said although he was yet to visit Chibok in the aftermath of the abductions, his heart was constantly with its traumatised parents and people.
He said his desire was to visit Chibok when their daughters have been freed and they can receive him with smiling faces of joy rather than with tears of anguish.
He said: “Our duty now is to take all relevant steps to recover our girls alive and our primary interest is getting them out as safely as possible. I will not want to say much, but we are doing everything humanly possible to get the girls out.
“This is not the time for talking much. This is the time for action. We will get to the time that we will tell stories. We will get to the time that we will celebrate and I assure you that, by God’s grace, that time will come soon.”
Responding to appeals from the community leaders for more help in overcoming some of the challenges imposed on Chibok and neighbouring communities by the Boko Haram insurgency, Jonathan said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and federal medical agencies would intensify efforts to provide them with additional relief materials and assistance.
He also assured that Chibok and other communities in the three North-eastern states affected by the insurgency would be the first beneficiaries of the Victims’ Support Fund, the Presidential Initiative for the North-east, the Safe Schools Initiative and other developmental programmes.
He said the programmes were designed by the federal government to address the damage, losses, setbacks, economic and social dislocations occasioned by the insurgency.
In his remarks, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state called for more sobriety, reflection and unity of purpose in the fight against terrorism in the country.
He pledged that the state government would give Jonathan the fullest possible support to address the problems caused by terrorism and the insurgency.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, had told State House correspondents that the president assured that education of the abducted school girls would not be truncated.
He said the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, also assured them that the priority of government was to ensure that the girls who escaped are returned to school while working hard to make sure the remaining ones in captivity are rescued.
On his part, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi state said since the Boko Haram crisis started, the state had had to deal with the influx of displaced people from the three affected states.
He said: “It has been a major challenge; you know Bauchi is surrounded by all the states having security challenges and many refugees have been pouring into it. Presently, we have over two million refugees in Bauchi but the good news is that we have been able to settle them down.
“No refugee is in any camp. We have given them land to settle, some shelter for them. We have tried our best to provide water and some basic facilities so that they can start life over again.
“It has not been easy, our resources are over-stretched; the little we have has to be shared with the refugees.”
Dr. Pogu Bitrus presented the Chibok community’s address to the president at the meeting, which was attended by the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi state, security chiefs, ministers and other senior government officials.
