- Elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark urges President Tinubu to form a competent task force to rescue remaining abducted Chibok girls
Chief Edwin Clark, an elder statesman, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately form a special taskforce of trusted and competent soldiers to rescue the remaining abducted Chibok girls.
Clark, leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), told reporters on Monday in Abuja that Tinubu should give the task force a specific timeframe to rescue the girls.
Recall that 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, were kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14, 2014, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s reign.
Last Saturday, the Borno State government reported that 89 of the 276 abducted girls were still in captivity.
The Commissioner for Information and Internal Security Affairs, Prof. Usman Tar, disclosed this at a press conference to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the abduction.
Clark said the president should appoint the special task force without nepotism and based on the competence and capacity of the appointees to deliver on their mandate.
He said, “No government has prioritised this Chibok girls’ issue. Some of the girls have come out; others are still there. For one of the girls to say she wants to go back to the bush means that there is a problem somewhere.
“Mr President, you should appoint a special task force as soon as possible to rescue those girls. There are committed soldiers, and there are some who are not committed. Where are we going? We want a united Nigeria.
“I believe that the federal government under President Tinubu should appoint a competent task force comprising the military, without nepotism, to rescue these girls.
“Jonathan tried but politics didn’t allow him. President Jonathan should have declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.”
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