Negotiate to free our daughters, Chibok parents tell Nigerian government

“It is just because they are not affected that is why, otherwise this thing would have been over since”.

Some parents of the over 250 abducted secondary school students from Chibok, Borno state have condemned the government’s decision not to negotiate or undertake prisoner swap with Boko Haram for the release of their daughters.

The Boko Haram, who kidnapped the girls on April 14, has stated its intention to negotiate their release, in exchange for the release of its kidnapped fighters.

Lawal Zannah, whose daughter is among the abducted students, told PREMIUM TIMES in Chibok that “refusing to negotiate has shown that the government does not care. If it were their daughters would they say the same?”
Another parent, Bashir Wasau echoed what Mr. Zannah said.

“It is just because they are not affected that is why, otherwise this thing would have been over since”.

Another parent, sitting nearby chipped in, in Hausa language to say he believed the federal government is still not even convinced the girls were kidnapped; otherwise “there would be no need for a fact finding committee.”

“What is the fact? If our daughters were truly kidnapped? it’s a pity” he said before picking up his cell phone to make a call.

Efforts by PREMIUM TIMES to get his full name for attribution were rebuffed.

“We have been talking to all the media in this world, how has that helped us”, he said, turned away and left angrily.
Mr. Zannah also said the fact finding committee is useless.

“Committee is of no use to us, it simply shows that the government needs to be convinced our daughters are missing, well as you can see they are. We are all here today and you have just heard the anguish we have been going through since the abduction.

“I really don’t understand why this committee. It will be unfair for the government to leave us to our fate knowing very well that our daughters were not abducted from our houses but in the hands of the government.

“How can you form a committee to find out if something under your own care is missing?” he said.

Government should negotiate

All the parents were unanimous in their call for the government to negotiate with the sect.

“Since the abductors have agreed to a prisoner swap, all we can do is to beg the government to accept the offer so that our daughters would come back alive,” said Mr. Wasau.

Mr. Zannah said Chibok might be repeated elsewhere if the government refused to negotiate.

“If they refused to negotiate, it has happened to us today; tomorrow it could be some other persons.

“It is over forty days since the abduction and you can only imagine what we are going through. We are suffering day and night.

“To make it worse, the government even announced that they know where our daughters are without doing anything concrete about it. Are they really serious about restoring the peace?” he asked.

Revelations emerged on Sunday that the federal government, which was reluctant to negotiate with the outlawed sect, had been involved in secret negotiations.

Stephen Davis, an Australian cleric, who was secretly hired by the Nigerian government to negotiate the release, stated his role to the U.K. Daily Mail.

He also said some of the girls were ill and confirmed that the girls were split in various camps with some outside Nigeria.