Buhari’s Administration More Clueless Than Jonathan’s – Chibok Girls’

PUNCH

Esther Yakubu, the mother of one of the
abducted girls, Dorcas, said President
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was “more
clueless than Jonathan’s.”
She said this after seeing her daughter speak in
the new video released by the Boko Haram
insurgents demanding swap of their detained
members with the Chibock girls.
Esther said President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration was “more clueless than
Jonathan’s.”
“The Chibok girls must be rescued, they must
have their lives, the future that Boko Haram tries
to truncate,” she said in an emotional outburst.
Earlier, Esther had told one of our
correspondents that she regretted putting Dorcas
in boarding school.
“I wanted her to have the best of education, I
planned to sponsor her education to whatever
level she wanted, but she could not sit for her
final examinations because she was abducted.
“Boko Haram in the video asked the government
to release their members so that they could
release our girls. If the government knows that it
cannot handle the insurgency, it should invite
other countries. It is not a crime to seek
assistance in a war. It is a shame for them to
allow our daughters to languish in captivity for
over two years.
“I don’t regret sending her to school, but I regret
putting her in boarding school. If she was a day
student, she would be home with me that night.
The abduction affected her because she was in
boarding school,” Yakubu added.
She said apart from her daughter, she recognised
about 20 other girls.
“I recognised Saratu Ayuba, Awa Ishaiya and
others. In that video, Dorcas has grown up a little
and she is slimmer. I cried when I saw her in the
video. That is only change I observe, but I thank
God she is alive.”
Dorcas’ father, Kabu Yakubu, urged the
government to release Boko Haram detainees in
exchange for the Chibok girls, adding that the
demand had boosted his hope that his daughter
and others would eventually make it home.
“I will sleep well because since she was
kidnapped, I have never seen her in other videos
released. But today, I saw her in the video, and
my joy was rekindled.
“What we have been telling the government is
what Boko Haram demanded in the video. We
are appealing to the government to help us to
release Boko Haram detainees so they can
release our daughters. In the video, my daughter
was begging the government to negotiate with
the terrorists and they (Boko Haram) said unless
the government releases their members who
were being detained in Abuja, Lagos and
Maiduguri prisons, they won’t release the girls.