Chibok girls: Buhari scores points, but faces more questions ahead

The world has welcomed the release of 21 Chibok girls out of about 250 kidnapped on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists. But organizations, individuals and groups are still waiting for more explanations about the girls and their release.

Commenting to the release of the girls,  Amnesty International says it is a big relief and advised that the girls be allowed to receive adequate physical and psychosocial counseling and support so that they can fully reintegrate in their communities.

Human Rights Watch in a report says the  return of the girls should serve as a beacon of hope not only for families of about 197 girls still missing, but also for hundreds of other women and children, including 300 Damasak school children, abducted by Boko Haram.

Obi Ezekwesili, former minister of Education in Nigeria and a leader of #BringBackOurGirls campaign commended Buhari on the release of the girls.

Other groups and personalities including Senate President, Bukola Saraki have joined to rejoice with Nigerians on the release of the girls by Boko Haram terrorists who have now split into two factions.

However, the world is still waiting for more explanations and clarificatins on the girls. The BringBackOurGirls group had also commended the Nigerian government on the released girls but says it expects further details. “While awaiting further details, we take this opportunity to salute the work of our security services at the front lines – the commitment, resilience and tireless efforts of our members of the Multi-national Joint Task Force and the civilian JTF”, it said.

Both traditional and social media are also awash with comments from concerned Nigerians on the release of 21 of the girls’ last Thursday. While some comments recognized the contributions of the Federal Government, the Nigeria military and the international collaborators and civil society groups like BBOG in ensuring the release of the 21 girls, other comments are asking questions on how they were released, from where; where were they kept and why the release of only 21 out of total girls abducted.

Other questions in the social media seeking for answers are whether Boko Haram which has lost grip due to the fire power of the federal security men are still keeping such number of  girls either in the Sambisa forest or somewhere else. Others are asking whether they were sold to people and now returned;whether they were hidden in Niger Republic or Cameroun or whether indeed it was a swap deal. But Nigerian government had since denied any kind of exchange for the release of the girls.

It was said that the present efforts that saw the release of 21 girls came after intervention of Swiss government and Red Cross officials. The involvement of ICRC and Swiss government was further confirmed in a tweet by Garba Shehu, President Buhari’s Special Assistant, Media and Publicity “The release of the girls, in a limited number is the outcome of negotiations between the administration and the Boko Haram brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government. The negotiations will continue”, he said.

Daniel Obi