RELEASE OF CHI-BOK GIRLS

RELEASE OF CHI-BOK GIRLS

The release of 21 Chibok girls on Thursday by the Boko-Haram sect, has elicited reactions both in positive and negative ways from party leaders in the country including Anambra state.

For the leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), the President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration, has lifted the confidence of the people of Nigeria.

But for the Chairman of Conference of Political Parties (CNPP) and chairman of Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) in Anambra state, Lolo Oby Okafor, the release of the Chibok girls is political.

However, Chief Joe Ifediobi, one of the founders of PDP in the country and Nze Modestus Umenzekwe, (APC) leader in Anambra, the present administration had shown commitment in making sure that happiness returns to the families.

Umenzekwe, while speaking with The Nation on Friday, said that the situation showed that the present government is focused and determined to fulfill its campaign promises during the electioneering campaigns.

According to him, “it is a big breakthrough and we commend the president Mohammadu Buhari and his APC leadership”

“They should move in for the release of the other remaining Chibok girls who have been in captivity for two years, but from what we have seen already, this (APC) government means well for Nigeria” Umenzekwe said.

For Chief Joe Ifediobi of the (PDP), the present government should be appreciated even though, they were being released in bits.

He said, “I congratulate the president and his team but the government should equally look into the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps”

“This release of the Chibok girls will help in dousing tension in the country over the arrests of judges by the Department of Security Service (DSS) recently”

However, Ifediobi did not fail to congratulate the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, human rights groups and others for their persistent pressure on government that had kept them on their
toes.

Though according to him, he may not know the circumstances under which the girls were released, adding that the government had claimed that there was no swap deal.

But the ACD chairman Okafor, faulted the negotiation that led to the release of the Chibok girls, saying that the negotiation should have embraced all and not only the 21 persons.