The Chairman, Chibok Local
government Council, Mr Bana Lawan, said on Wednesday that four more of the 221
abducted students of Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS) had escaped from
their abductors.
Lawan gave the information in Abuja
at a one-day stakeholders meeting for validation of draft humanitarian response
plan for the abducted girls.
The meeting was organised by the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
He said the girls escaped on Tuesday
to bring the number of girls who had escaped to 57.
Represented by the council’s
Director of Personnel and Management, Mr Musa Kolo, the chairman said the girls
fell ill and were released by their captors.
Lawan commended Nigerians for
showing concern and support for Chibok people, saying the support had
restored the hope and aspiration of the people for the return of peace to the
community.
He commended the Federal
Government’s prompt intervention through the provision of relief items for the
people.
He urged the Federal Government to
resuscitate the facilities destroyed by the insurgents and improve security in
the affected school to boost the morale of the students.
Lawan explained that boys were
encouraged to attend GGSS in Chibok because of the lack of education facilities
in the area and appealed for the construction of boys’ hostels in the school.
He said the construction of the
hostels would reduce the hardship faced by the students, who attended school
from afar.
Lawan, who also decried the poor
health facilities in the area, appealed for the deployment of medical personnel
and teachers to the area.
He said the deployment of National
Youth Service Corps members to the area would boost the educational and health
needs of the people of Chibok.
Earlier, NEMA Director-General
Alhaji Mohammad Sani-Sidi said the meeting was aimed at strengthening the coordination
mechanism for humanitarian response in Chibok.
“While the Federal Government is
working towards the safe release of the abducted girls, it is important that a
sectoral response plan is prepared for their rehabilitation and reintegration
back to normal life.
“The objective of the meeting is to
integrate all sectoral response plans into one holistic multi-sectoral response
plan to avoid duplication of efforts,’’ Sani-Sidi said.
He said NEMA and other actors had
intervened in crisis occasioned by insurgency in Chibok by providing food and
other items, water and medicaments for the affected people.
Also the UN Resident Coordinator in
Nigeria, Dr Dauda Toure, said the organisation had mapped out a 75
million-dollar intervention plan for states affected by the state of emergency
in the north-east.
According to him, the UN system in
Nigeria has developed an integrated response package to address the
humanitarian needs in Chibok.
He said the UN system would
intervene in the areas of health, peace and conflict resolution, water and
sanitation, among others. (NAN)
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