Chibok 9th anniversary: Aisha Muhammed advocates education, security for Nigerian girls

The Chief Executive Officer of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), Aisa Muhammed-Oyebode, has again lamented the plight of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the incident which sparked global outrage. Prominent personalities, including former United States First Lady Michelle Obama, joined the campaign.

On April, 2014, 276 female Government Girls Secondary School students in Chibok, Borno State were kidnapped by the dreaded sect Boko Haram.

In January, the parents of the captives still in custody wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari to remind him of his campaign promise to free them.

In a statement on Friday, Muhammed-Oyebode, a development specialist, demanded education and security for girls and women in Nigeria.

She charged the federal government, humanitarian organisations and development partners to step up interventions to assuage the pains of victims and families.

Her book “The Stolen Daughters of Chibok”, documents the emotional families’ testimonies of loss, despair, and hope. MMF Foundation BoT Chairman, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote the foreword.

Muhammed-Oyebode reiterated the organisation’s determination to work with partners “to improve the status of women and girls, prioritizing safety, education, and economic opportunity”.

“While progress has been made, it is evident that more needs to be done to develop clear routes that bring women and girls from conflict to safety,” she said.

Muhammed-Oyebode further expressed her admiration for the “resilience and courage of the Chibok families, who have refused to relinquish hope despite adversity”.

On February 13, 1976, the activist’s father and late Head of State, Murtala Muhammed, was killed in Lagos, along with his aide-de-camp Lt. Akintunde Akinsehinwa.