Abduction of policewomen: #BBOG demands government’s reaction

The #BringBackOurGirls group has demanded immediate reaction of the Presidency and the federal government to the alleged abducted policewomen and other citizens in the burial convoy that was attacked in Maiduguri about two weeks ago.

The group warned that “federal authorities cannot carry on repeating all the wrong approaches in dealing with victims of terrorism that it should have learned to handle differently over these many years”.

The group said this in a statement signed by its conveners Oby ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu on Monday.

It was reported that about two weeks ago that a security convoy of vehicles conveying military and police personnel was attacked by the terrorists 30 kilometres from Maiduguri on the Maiduguri-Damboa federal highway.

Part of the convoy was said to be civilians and personnel of Nigeria police travelling for the burial rites of a deceased police colleague. In some of the reports, eyewitness accounts relayed that 16 women were abducted by the terrorists from among the burial convoy.

“Our movement is worried that 13 days after this reported tragedy, the federal government, the military have maintained an eerie silence on the matter. The ominous silence is made more troubling when 4 days after the attack and alleged abduction of the women from the burial convoy, the Boko Haram terrorists released a video in which they took responsibility and paraded the women they claimed were the police women, victims of that attack”, the group said.

The group who said it was worried that the government had not learnt from experience of the past, citing the #Chibok incident where FG delayed in responding to the abduction, it called on the federal government to immediately provide answers to the whereabouts of the missing policewomen and their civilian counterparts who were part of the burial convoy.

The group also urged the government to instantly convey its effort to rescue any one of the victims of that attack that is accurately established to be in terrorist captivity and also advised that it institute a feedback platform to engage with all the families of the abducted policewomen and others thereafter.

The group therefore reminded the Presidency and the military about the remaining 113 #ChibokGirls who were still missing, and demanded urgent rescie of the girls.