FG meets with representatives of 82 released Chibok girls

Some of the representatives of the 82 released Chibok girls by Boko Haram were met by the Federal Government.

The 82 schoolgirls, who were abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, were freed over the weekend after long negotiations between the Federal Government and the terror sect, Boko Haram.

The Swiss Government and the International Committee of the Red Cross were also involved in the talks, which also featured a lawyer, Zanna Mustapha, and Senator Shehu Sani as negotiators.

Pictures of the released girls were sent to their representstives which would be handed over to the parents.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this during an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday.

Mohammed said the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, met with the representatives as the government believed this would be more convenient than asking all the parents to travel down to Abuja.

He said, “Chibok is not one village; the girls are from several communities. You need time to contact the parents. The Minister of Women Affairs has met with members of the Chibok association and they have been given pictures and names of the girls and in the next few days, we will get feedback.

“We don’t want a situation where somebody’s daughter, who is not there, will come all the way to Abuja only to be disappointed while the parents, whose daughters were actually rescued, would be left behind.

“So, it will take a few days to coordinate these things.”

Mohammed said the rescued girls were still undergoing several tests because they had been in captivity of three years and would need thorough examination.

A health official told one of our correspondents that the girls had undergone malaria, hepatitis and HIV tests.

“The girls have been in captivity with terrorists for over three years; so, the standard tests they are being given are HIV and other related STDs, hepatitis, malaria and others.

“They are the same tests that the previously rescued girls had all taken,” the official added.