Freed Chibok Girls Reunited With Parents, Says They Were Without Food For 40 Days
SAN FRANCISCO, October 16, (THEWILL) – The 21 released Chibok girls were finally reunited with their parents, on Sunday , after more than two years in Boko Haram's captivity.
The parents arrived at the Department of State Services (DSS) health facility in Abuja during a thanksgiving service organised for them.
With the arrival of the parents, the environment was charged with emotion and tears of joy as the girls locked themselves in their parents' embrace.
Gloria Dame, one of the girls released by Boko Haram last week, has revealed that the abductees were, at a time, without food for a total of one month and 10 days.
Dame made this revelation on Sunday while giving a testimony on behalf of her colleagues during the service.
“I did not know that a day like this will come that we will be dancing and giving thanks to God among people,” she said in Hausa.
“For one month and 10 days, we stayed without food. I narrowly escaped bomb blast in the forest.”
“We are praying to God to touch the heart of Boko Haram to repent and we are calling on Nigerians to pray and fast for the release of our remaining ones in captivity.”
The parents also took turns to address the congregation and thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and all Nigerians for their efforts and prayers towards the rescue of their daughters.
Yaga Yarakawa, Chairman of Chibok local government council, described the release of the girls as “historic”, saying: “Before their abduction, I was involved in supervising their feeding, which was organised by the Borno State Secondary Schools Feeding System. So I know them very well.
“These are the real girls and you could see when their parents came; you see their joy, it manifest naturally,” he said.
“This is enough to tell you that it is a reality and anybody who says different things or is doubting, maybe the person has a different agenda altogether.”
He appealed to the government to put all necessary machinery in place to ensure the release of the other girls.
Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of Abducted Chibok Girls' Parents Association, thanked the president for the release of the girls.
“From the physical looks of the girls, it was obvious that they were not radicalised as claimed by some people,” he said, and also debunked claims that many of the girls were pregnant.
The service was attended by Lai Mohammed, minister of information and cultur, and Aisha Alhassan, minister of women affairs.
THEWILL recalls that the 21 girls were released last Thursday after negotiations between the government and the Boko Haram sect facilitated by the Swiss government.
The government has promised to take care of the girls' education, and to rehabilitate them to enable them to reintegrate with society.
Although, there are still 197 of the Chibok girls in Boko Haram's den, the President has vowed to ensure their release also.
Story by David Oputah