Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
The General Overseer, Latter Rain
Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has lampooned politicians and
political parties for using the abduction of 219 Chibok schoolgirls to
score cheap political points.
He noted that the nation had not given
the issue the necessary thoughtfulness and seriousness it deserved,
stressing that those who are in a position to act have not taken
sufficient action towards addressing it or even towards calming the
anxiety of the waiting Chibok parents.
The cleric said this in a sermon on
Sunday during the thanksgiving service to mark the global action week in
commemoration of the second anniversary of the abduction of the
schoolgirls organised by the BringBackOurGirls coalition at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.
Bakare stated that the girls would have
been rescued if they were children of the political and religious elite
and appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritise their rescue
in the midst of the numerous challenges before him. He stressed that the
girls had become the symbols of the soul of the nation.
He said, “What do you think I would have
done extra if my girl was involved? Have I done those things? What
could have happened, if these were daughters of Emirs or the Prelate or
Primate of the Anglican Church or Methodist Church? If any of them
happen to be son of Pastor Adeboye not to mention sons or daughters of
governors or president, what do you think would have happened on that
issue?
“Am just asking a question, what do you
think would have happened? We would have done more than we have done,
the whole nation has failed these children and we must repent and that
is why we must honour those of you (BBOG) who have made it to be on the
front burner.”
Reading Isaiah 49:24-26 from the Holy
Bible, Bakare urged the BBOG and the Chibok parents not to give up,
saying the girls would be rescued alive from Boko Haram captivity.
He recalled that the past administration
failed to act on ‘actionable intelligence’ that could have led to the
rescue of the girls, noting that the government did not take the
necessary steps to rescue them until there was a global outcry.
Bakare said, “It is most severely
injurious to see that the fate of our daughters has been frequently
politicised. Rather than rise to the occasion as stakeholders and
custodians of the security and welfare of the citizens of this nation,
political parties and politicians have paid lip service, using our pain
and the plight of our daughters to score cheap political points.
“We are not convinced that the matter of
our daughters has been given the needed thoughtfulness. We do not
believe that those who are in a position to act have taken sufficient
action towards addressing this issue or even towards calming our anxiety
as waiting parents.”
The fiery cleric who spoke in an
emotion-laden voice for about 35 minutes, expressed the conviction that
the abducted girls were alive and could still be rescued, noting that
there was no evidence, not even satellite photography, suggesting that
they were in a mass grave.
“We have heard varied suggestions as to
the fate of our girls. We have heard that some have been married off,
that some have been sold as slaves, and that some are being held captive
as human shields. We have heard that some have been radicalised, and
there have been suggestions that they are now being groomed and deployed
as suicide bombers. What we expect the government to do is to
systematically analyse the possibilities with a view to eliminating
impossibilities,” Bakare suggested.
The Convener, Save Nigeria Group,
appreciated the government for the renewed military offensive and the
gains recorded in the fight against Boko Haram, but added that the
nation expected that the success would be translated into tracing the
whereabouts of the girls or even finding some measure of closure for
their parents.
“If they have been sold as slaves, to
whom have they been sold? What are the locations of these slave buyers
or dealers? Are they in the territories in which our girls had been held
captive in the past? What attempts have been made to investigate or
eliminate this possibility? Have they been sold beyond the Nigerian
borders? What routes are there through which they could possibly have
been taken?,” he asked.
Given the complex security nature of the
abduction, Bakare noted that rescuing the girls might require special
tactical military operations, details of which could not be publicly
discussed.
This, he added, should not stop the
government from creating a confidential information channel that would
keep anxious parents abreast of the basic facts and show that, at least,
the country cared for their daughters.
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