NAN-H-31
Commendation
Lagos, Oct.14, 2016 (NAN) Some clerics on Friday commended the Federal Government over the release of 21 Chibok schoolgirls by the Boko Haram insurgents.
The clerics, however, advised the government to ensure the full rehabilitation, counselling and reintegration of the girls.
Anthony Cardinal Okogie, Bishops Mathew Audu and Felix Ajakaye, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that efforts should also be intensified to release the remaining girls.
It would be recalled that 217 Chibok girls were abducted on April 14, 2014 from Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno by Boko Haram insurgents during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Okogie, Archbishop Emeritus, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, said, “ this is cheering news to the parents that they would be reunited with their abducted daughters after a long while.
“ Personally, I received the news with mixed feelings, because, the girls must have been brain-washed and abused by their abductors during the period; some may have been forcefully married out against their wishes.
“The abduction brought shame to Nigeria and the international community said that Nigeria was not safe for investors to do business.
“I call on governments at all level to make security a priority in this country, especially with the incessant cases of kidnapping, even in our schools.
“It is only when this is achieved that I can say it is totally good news to me,’’ he said.
Audu of the Catholic Diocese Lafia, North Central Nigeria, said, “ It is good news that the girls are still alive as at the time of their release by their abductors.
“We pray that the remaining ones will be released very soon.
“I advise the federal government to organise a comprehensive rehabilitation for the girls, as they must have passed through various traumas and abuses in the hands of their abductors during their captivity.
“They will need good counsellors and psychologists to counsel them on post-abduction, before being reintegrated into the society.
“Also, the government must keep their identities very secret from the larger society so that they will not be stigmatized,’’ Audu said.
Also, Ajakaye, Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, called on the government to take special interests in the mental, physical and social welfare of the girls and their parents.
“These months would have been very traumatic for these girls.
“They have experienced untold hardships and ordeals during the period of separation in the hands of their abductors.
“So, they must be properly handled by experts; their parents, especially their mothers, must also be expertly handled.
“Nigerians must come together to fight and expunge evil and savagery in our country,’’ he said. (NAN)
ECO/VIV/MZA
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Edited by Vivian Ihechu and Controlled by Maharazu Ahmed