Having made the headlines for angrily storming out of a meeting with the aggrieved parents of the missing girls, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, January 14 has ordered a fresh probe into the abduction of over 200 girls from the Government Secondary in Chibok, Borno State.
The panel to investigate the incident which happened in April 2014, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, will soon be named by the National Security Adviser (NSA) General Babagana Munguno.
The decision to set up a fresh committee to probe the abduction of the Chibok girls, which sparked global outrage, may be an indication of the government’s lack of confidence in the report of the Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Sabo (retd.) presidential fact-finding committee set up by the Goodluck Jonathan administration on the same issue.
The yet-to-be constituted probe panel by NSA Monguno will seek to, among other things, unravel the remote and immediate circumstances leading the kidnap of the girls by Boko Haram terrorists and the other events, actions and inactions that followed the incident.
President Buhari gave the directive in Abuja as he assured parents of the Chibok girls that he has been doing his best and will continue to do everything possible to rescue them and re-unite them with their families.
He spoke during a meeting attended by some parents of the abducted girls, representatives of the Chibok community and members of the Bring Back Our Girls movement at the Conference Hall of the State House.
He said: “I assure you that I go to bed and wake up every day with the Chibok girls on my mind.
“The unfortunate incident happened before this government came into being.
“What have we done since we assumed office? We re-organized the military, removed all the service chiefs and ordered the succeeding service chiefs to deal decisively with the Boko Haram insurgency.
“In spite of the terrible economic condition we found ourselves in, we tried to get some resources to give to the military to reorganize and equip, retrain, deploy more troops and move more forcefully against Boko Haram.
“And you all know the progress we have made. When we came in Boko Haram was in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno. Boko Haram has now been reduced to areas around Lake Chad.
“Securing the Chibok girls is my responsibility. The service chiefs and heads of our security agencies will tell you that in spite of the dire financial straits that we found the country in, I continue to do my best to support their efforts in that regard.
“This is a Nigeria where we were exporting average of two million barrels per day at over 140 dollars per barrel. Now it is down to about 27 to 30 dollars.
“You have been reading in the press how they took public funds, our funds, your funds and shared it, instead of buying weapons. That was the kind of leadership I succeeded. That was the kind of economy I inherited”.
“God knows I have done my best and I will continue to do my best,” President Buhari said.
The president was accompanied by the Ministers of Defence and Women Affairs, Mansur Mohammed Dan Ali and Aisha Alhassan respectively; Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Gabriel Olonisakin, Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai, National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) and his SSA Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
