“We Will Sacrifice Our Lives to Find Our Children” – Parents of Abducted Chibok Girls

Parents of the school girls who were abducted by Boko Haram from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State last Tuesday, have joined search and rescue efforts to save their children.

They have vowed to sacrifice their lives for their children – if that is what it takes to find them.

These brave parents stormed the dreaded Sambisa Forest in Borno State, one of Boko Haram’s hideouts, where it is believed the girls are being held hostage. Many of the parents are alleging that the military has failed to enter the forest and rescue their children, Vanguard reports.

One of the girls’ fathers, Mallam Amos Chiroma, recounted his experience during the search process:

“While we were in the forest with over 200 volunteers who only had cutlasses, bows, arrows and sticks, we came across different make-shift camps suspected to be owned by terrorists.

It is however unfortunate that we had to turn back when we met one good Samaritan in the forest who advised us that it was in our own interest to go back because the area we were approaching in the forest was a dead zone dominated by terrorists.

If soldiers had accompanied us to the forest, we were optimistic that our missing children would have been rescued, or we would be satisfied if we can just see the dead bodies of our daughters,” he said. 

Another parent, Mallam Shettima Yau Haruna, expressed that although all are incessantly praying for the safe return of their daughters, prayer alone is not enough. He urged the government and security officials to intensify search efforts.

Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has promised to deploy all human and material resources towards the safe release of the missing students.

Photo Credit: theunion.com.ng