Members of the Chibok Parents Association has called on the public to remember the remaining 108 Chibok girls that are still in the captivity of the Boko Haram insurgents.

They urged the government not to relent in the search and rescue mission to bring back the girls.

The call was made at a film screening organised by SAB Art Foundation and the CPA, titled ‘Statues Also Breathe.’

The event which included conversations with the artists, representative of the CPA and two of the rescued girls, was held in Lagos, on Thursday.

The film showcases the collaborative process of sculpting and remembrance of the remaining abducted girls by some of the rescued girls.

One of the parents of the Chibok girls, Yahi Bwata, recalled how 57 of the abducted girls leapt out of the truck of their captors in 2014.

He also said that although the then President, Goodluck Jonathan intervened in the rescue mission, much impact was not made.

While translating the message of Saratu Samuel; one of the Chibok mothers, from Hausa to English, journalist and media entrepreneur, Kadaria Ahmad, said that the father of the abducted girl died because of the shock of her kidnap and her prolonged absence.

She said, “There are a lot of parents who are distressed, not knowing is perhaps the hardest thing. Her prayer is for everybody here who has a platform to continue ensuring that the story of the Chibok girls does not die. Thank you, everybody, for taking an interest, and please keep praying for their families.’

Ahmad also noted that 48 parents of the Chibok girls died due to the trauma of the loss of their daughters since the abduction.

Two of the rescued girls, Amina Ali and Jummai Mutah, also spoke at the event.

Both of them recalled how they were kidnapped, rescued, and how they were coping with the shock of the abduction.

Also, visual artist and Associate Professor of the Obafemi Awolowo University,Ile-Ife, Dr Olusegun Fajuyigbe, said that he collaborated with a French multidisciplinary artist, Prune Nourry and Nigerian musician, Ade Bantu, to make the film possible.

Fajuyigbe said, ‘To the dismay of everyone, it looks like the remaining 108 girls have been forgotten, so the intention of Prune was to use arts as a tool of social awareness, transformation, and to help shed more light to the issue.”

In April 2014, it was reported that 276 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists. 57 of the abducted reportedly leapt out of the kidnapper’s truck.

As of April 2023, 125 girls were reportedly freed from Boko Haram’s captivity. They included two Chibok girls, Esther Marcus and Hauwa Malta, who were rescued by troops at Lagara, a Boko Haram enclave in the Sambisa forest.

In August 2023, The PUNCH reported that another Chibok girl, Mary Nkeki, was rescued by troops of Operation Hadin Kai Theatre Command.

The Theatre Commander, Maj. Gen. Gold Chibuisi, stated that Nkeki gave birth to two children for Adam, an insurgent, but the children died. (The PUNCH)

•FILES: Some family members of the #ChibokGirls, during an interfaith meeting to mark the seventh year of the abduction of the pupils of the Government Girls Science Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State…on Wednesday. Photo: Murtala Muhammed Foundation

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