Parents of the 87 Chibok school girls still in captivity have called on the Nigerian government to “move beyond rhetoric” and return their children back home.

It’s the 11th year since the Boko Haram militants attacked the school and forcibly took 276 students, a heinous act that prompted global outrage in April 2014.

The viral #BringBackOurGirls campaign was launched, which brought the insecurity in the North East to the international attention.

In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Yana Galang and Zannah Mohammed, the parents acknowledged Buhari’s role in securing the release of 103 girls during his administration.

Successive Nigerian governments have repeatedly assured the parents of efforts to locate and rescue the remaining girls but the highest number recovered under the late president, Buhari.

“When President Buhari took office in 2015, we held onto cautious hope as some of our girls were returned during his tenure, and for those reunions and efforts, we are quietly grateful.

“But for many of us, our hopes were ultimately dashed, as 87 of our daughters are still missing,” read the statement.

According to the Association of the Parents of the Missing Chibok Girls, the figure of the remaining girls was verified by the Murtala Muhammed Foundation.

They, therefore, called on authorities to “move beyond rhetoric” and take concrete steps to return the remaining girls home.

“As we mourn our former leader, we reflect on a painful chapter in our national history.

“The journey is not over. Our call remains: Bring Back Our Girls—every single one,” the statement added.

Speaking to our correspondent, one of the parents of the Chibok girls, Yakubu Nkeke said that their children were scattered in forest around the country.

Asked if they had traced the locations of some of their daughters, he said, “We don’t know their exact location but a girl who was rescued from Kaduna forest and taken to the National Security Adviser and told me that she saw one of our girls there by the name Hauwa Musa Maina,” he said.

Nkeke also said some of the girls in Sambisa contacted their parents but they couldn’t trace their exact location.

“And, for the girls in the Sambisa forest, eight of them have called their parents and console them, but we could not trace their locations,” he said.

He said some of the girls had even shown interest that they wanted to return home but their husbands would not allow them to come back.

He made new appeals to the Nigerian government to rescue their children, saying “We will not lose hope; we will continue making this appeal until our daughters return to us.

How some of the girls were rescued

On the night of the attack, when the terrorists forced girls onto trucks and drove them away through bush paths to a 128,000-acre Sambisa forest, 57 jumped off the trucks and escaped.

Also, 128 were freed after negotiations with the Boko Haram or found in neighboring countries.

In April 2024, Nigerian soldiers rescued one of the Chibok girls from Sambisa forest with three children after 10 years in captivity.

In July 2024, another Chibok girl was rescued by the military and handed over to Borno State government, alongside 330 others.

In 2013, five girls were found with seven children, which they had given birth to during captivity.

According to a report by Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), 21 of the total freed girls returned with 34 children.

Expert speaks

Speaking to our correspondent, Hajiya Hamsatu Allamin, the Executive Director, Al-Amin Foundation for Peace and Development, a community-based Non-Governmental Organisation, said it is high time for the parents to channel their stamina for the betterment of those rescued.

She pointed out that the Chibok parents have done so much to ensure that many of the girls were rescued but they are doing less to ensure that government take good care of the rescued girls.

“As parent, ask the government to change the lives of the girls rescued from the terrorists and establishing civic rights of the children born in captivity.

“Empower the girls economically, so that they can educate and take care of their children to become responsible citizens.

“They should also be healed of trauma and psychological stress they went through. That will even encourage some of the Chibok girl in captivity to come out and join them,” she said.

She commended the government for doing its best in the rescue effort and appealed for more effort to ensure the welfare of the rescued girls. (Daily Trust, but headline rejigged)