The General Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Sunday, asserted that the nation had not given the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls, the necessary thoughtfulness and seriousness it deserves.

Pastor Bakare also criticised politicians and political parties for scoring cheap political points with the abduction of the schoolgirls.

Speaking during the thanksgiving service in commemoration of the second anniversary of the Chibok girls’ abduction at the Unity Fountain, Abuja, he stressed that the girls would have been rescued if they were children of political and religious elites.

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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?”

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.

Kolapo Olapoju