Members of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) advocacy yesterday identified the Chibok girl who spoke on behalf of her mates in the Boko Haram video as Dorcas Yakubu.
Dorcas, who was abducted over two years ago with her school mates, was identified by a member of #BBOG and spokesperson of the Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) Dr. Allen Manaseh.
This was in the presence of her parents in Abuja.
The campaigners told reporters that the recognition of many of the girls leaves no room for doubt that they are the Chibok girls.
In a statement signed by leaders of the group, former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili and Aisha Yesufu, the #BBOG said: “After listening to the call of Dorcas Yakubu, we demand an immediate, transparent, action and results-oriented response plan by the government.
“Today, 853 days since the abduction of our #ChibokGirls, we woke up to a video on the state of our girls. We are left with mixed feelings of grief and strengthened hope as the chilling words continue to sink in.
They gave a direct translation of the Kibaku dialect spoken by the girl in the video as follows:
“Our parents please exercise patience. We are suffering here. There is no kind of suffering we haven’t seen. Our sisters are injured; some have wounds on their heads and bodies.
“Tell the government to give them their people so we can also come to be with you. We are all children and we don’t know what to do. The suffering is too much, please endeavour as we also have exercised patience.
“There is nothing you, or we can do about this but to get their people back to them, so we can go home. Exercise patience as we also have endured.”
The interpreter, Dr. Allen Manaseh, who is the Spokesman of the Kibaku Area Development Association (KADA) in Abuja, identified the speaker as Dorcas Yakubu, whose parents Esther and Yakubu live in the Abuja area. They were present at the conference.
Manaseh said: “Since we last met with the President in January, we have continued to call on him to be responsive to the needs of our Chibok parents, our movement, and the Global Community for timely updates on the rescue operation. In the aftermath of an earlier video, we repeatedly called for the Government to treat the information as the missing piece of “credible intelligence” it was seeking. Not even the return of Amina Ali a #ChibokGirl, inspired the sort of response we demanded.
“After listening to the call of Dorcas Yakubu, we demand an immediate, transparent, action and results-oriented response plan by the Government. We state categorically that the excuse of a split within the terrorists’ ranks or a period of validation of the authenticity of their claims will not suffice this time. We shall press these demands with a march to the Villa in the next few days.
“Nothing short of the Nigerian state being in contact with the parents, confirming identities of our girls, providing psychosocial support where necessary, and most importantly, articulating an action plan will be acceptable.
“Today, 28 months since the abduction, we call on the Governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, China, Australia, Israel, agencies like the United Nations and African Union, and all who previously expressed intentions to support the rescue efforts, to reengage and adopt a strategic rescue position. As global citizens, this is the least our #ChibokGirls deserve.
“We appeal to all citizens empathetic to the cause of our girls to hold them and their parents in prayers, and commit to joining our march to the Villa in the coming week. Our government, and the World, cannot continue to fail these innocent young women whose only crime is their decision to be educated. If we do, we would have failed to defend our civilization and shared humanity.”
