by ‘Jola Sotubo
The fact-finding committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate the abduction of over 200 girls from Chibok, Borno is said to have arrived in the state in furtherance of their assignment.
The committee members, who are in Maiduguri, the state capital, have said that they were not going to operate on any preconceived notions but were instead going to unravel the circumstances of the abduction and proffer solutions to ensure the safe release of the abducted girls.
The team, according to their spokesperson, Kingsley Osadolor, arrived in Maiduguri on Sunday aboard an Air Force plane.
The Sun reports:
He said the team was received at Maiduguri Airport by the Acting General Officer Commanding 7th Division, Nigerian Army, Brig-Gen. M. Y. Ibrahim, and officials of Borno State Government.
Sabo said the committee had entered a crucial phase of its assignment. “We are now in the main theatre where the schoolgirls were taken away against their will. The whole world is mobilised against their abduction, and we cannot be happy while our daughters remain in captivity,” he said.
He reiterated that the committee had an open mind to its assignment. “We are not here with preconceived notions. We are here to find facts that will lead to a resolution of the current hostage crisis involving the schoolgirls.”
Sabo said the committee, while in Borno State, would engage a broad spectrum of stakeholders, to enable the committee have a holistic appreciation of the matter at hand, and advise the Federal Government accordingly. He, therefore, called for the cooperation of all concerned.
During a courtesy call on the Shehu of Borno at his palace on Monday, the committee chairman recalled that, historically, Maiduguri was a famous centre in the Trans-Sahara Trade, but regretted that the city and the state had suffered severe socio-economic dislocation as a result of insurgency in recent years.
Responding, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn-Garbai, described the abduction as unfortunate. He said the Kanem Bornu Empire had been in existence for some 1,200 years, adding that the people were peace-loving.
“What is happening now is unfortunate. It’s entirely new to us. None of the leaders of Boko Haram is from Borno.”
