Troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri have discovered another abducted Chibok girl, Rakiya Abubakar. Rakiya was found with a six-month-old baby.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usmanon, as saying yesterday in a statement in Abuja, that a preliminary investigation discovered “she is the daughter of Abubakar Gali Mulima and Habiba Abubakar of Chibok.”
He went on: “She further stated that she was a student of Senior Secondary School Class 3B (SS 3B) before her abduction along with her colleagues on April 14, 2014 by the Boko Haram terrorists.
“Rakiya Abubakar is presently undergoing further medical investigation and would soon be released to the Borno government.”
President Muhammadu Buhari expressed happiness over the development.
In a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President commended the military for the diligent investigation that led to the recent feat, urging them to sustain the spirit whilst assuring Nigerians that his government would to do all within its powers to assist the military in locating the rest of the girls and eradicating terrorism in the country.
Despite the complete routing of the Boko Haram stronghold in the notorious Sambisa forest, only 23 of the over 200 missing Chibok girls have been found, leaving most of them unaccounted for.
With over 180 other girls still missing, there is the need for the government to create and execute a strategic ‘recover plan’ in the next phase of the war against Boko Haram. Searching for the abducted girls, rehabilitating than and restoring them to their families should be paramount.
Meanwhile, the Theatre Commander, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, said to win the peace after the Boko Haram war in the North East, a multi-sectoral engagement in “intelligence and re-constructions projects” must be done.
