Chibokgirls: You failed to rescue them | FG replies PDP

by Azeez Adeniyi

The Federal Government has slammed the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for its comments over the release of 82 Chibok girls on Saturday.

The PDP in a statement on Sunday had criticized the Federal Government for releasing Boko Haram commandants in exchange for the girls.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a statement on Monday said the party should be ashamed.

[Read Also: RELEASE OF ONLY FEW CHIBOK GIRLS IS A SETBACK – PDP]

The minister said, ”Since the PDP failed – as it did in everything – to rescue even one of the Chibok girls, the party should hold its peace while this administration continues to seek the release of all the abducted girls, using every means at its disposal, in addition to working assiduously to end all Boko Haram hostilities.”

Mohammed said prisoner exchange was a common practice across the world including in the United States and Israel.

He added, “In his inaugural address, President Muhammadu Buhari said the administration cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls. He also said this government will do all it can to rescue them alive.

‘If that includes swapping some Boko Haram elements for the girls, so what? Will the PDP rather have the girls stay in perpetual captivity, just to prove a ludicrous point? Didn’t superpower United States engage in negotiations with the Taliban that led to the exchange of five Taliban fighters for US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl in 2014? Didn’t Israel release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in 2011?

”A lot of factors come into play when a nation has to decide whether or not to engage in prisoner/hostage swap. None, however, trounces the sanctity attached to human life and the consideration for the pains of the loved ones of those involved.”

He said the PDP was clearly hoping the Boko Haram crisis does not end.

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