The Federal Government and security forces have not given up hope on securing the release of the Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu.

National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser (NCTC-ONSA),  Major.-Gen. Adamu Laka, stated this while briefing journalists on the activities of the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell in collaboration with the United Kingdom – National Crime Agency on Tuesday in Abuja.

Recall that 276 girls were kidnapped in April 2014, from the Government Girls Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno, State, with 87 still in captivity 11 years after.

About 189 others regained their freedom at different time, either through rescue operations by the military or escaped from the terrorists’ den.

On the other hand, Sharibu and 109 other girls were abducted from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi in Yobe State on February 19, 2018.

Mr Laka, while responding to questions, explained that the government had not forgotten them, adding that several of the girls had been rescued by security forces, though, not just in one time.

He said, “Since when they were kidnapped, those who were rescued were not just rescued one time, It was a gradual process. Negotiations were done, trying to get them out. Operations were conducted.

“Luckily, at the beginning of that, towards the year after they were kidnapped, I was in the theatre, and I know what the military and intelligence agencies put in to rescue the initial set of the Chibok girls. We have not given up hope on them, some of them were married to some of the insurgents. Some have come out. But let our focus not only on the Chibok girls because there are others that have been kidnapped.

“There were aid workers that were kidnapped. We have rescued some that are working for UNICEF, UNHCR and IOM and so on. So, we have not relented on our efforts. We are not always talking about it. It doesn’t mean we don’t care. It doesn’t mean we have forgotten about them. We are still on it. Our prayer is that the whole 87 or 80 plus that are left will be rescued. By God’s grace.”

The UK Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gill Levers, condemned the recent killing of 33 kidnap victims by bandits in Banga town in Kaura Namoda Local Government Government Area of Zamfara State.

Ms Levers described kidnapping as an “unspeakable crime” that has impacted on society, communities, and families.

According to her, it damages people’s mental and physical well-being, retards economic progress and all the other things that we know and we must bring an end to this.

“We must stop this. We must limit this, because we all feel passionately and keenly what the terrible impacts are of kidnapping. This is what we want to try and stop. So my condolences to the people of that state and to the affected people and to their families and friends.

She said that the multi-agency Kidnap Fusion Cell had been a three-year initiative to create a collaborative response from Nigeria’s security forces to tackle the threat of kidnap across the country.

According to Ms Levers, the Multi-Agency Fusion Cell’s role was to support the Nigeria police and the State Security Service kidnap response units nationwide by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data to the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as providing trend-based information on kidnapping incidents by state.

“The Multi-Agency Fusion Cell and the training that’s going on this week comes out of a deep partnership that the United Kingdom and Nigeria have, called our Security and Defence Partnership. It is part of our overall strategic partnership, signed by our foreign ministers last year, and a partnership that’s based on mutual trust and mutual respect and mutual support.

“We met at a Security and Defence Partnership meeting over a few days in London a couple of weeks ago, and this step of rolling out the Multi-Agency Fusion Cell capability to states was something we agreed on,” she said.

 (NAN)