Hyacinth Chinweuba
THE All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) have hailed the safe return of girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe State.
APC said it was a demonstration of the political will by the Buhari administration to ensure the safety of Nigerians.
It assured the citizens that the APC-led Buhari administration was doing everything humanly possible to ensure the safe return of the remaining Chibok girls.
A statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, in Abuja said if the last administration had demonstrated the same commitment when the Chibok school girls were adopted, they would have been rescued on time rather than allow them pass through several months of torture.
The statement said the party was confident that reforms embarked upon by the present government would improve the capacity and efficiency of the nation’s security agencies to prevent the kidnap of children by terrorists and diminish their ability to carry out attacks on soft targets.
The statement reads: “The APC is extremely delighted with the news of the return of the school girls abducted from Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State by Boko Haram.
“The prompt release of the Dapchi school girls is another solid demonstration of the political will of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration to secure the lives of all Nigerians.
“With this prompt release of the Dapchi girls, the APC government has demonstrated how government should respond to such situations. If the immediate-past Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration had responded with the similar alacrity, the Chibok school girls would have been released or rescued. Instead, the PDP wasted several weeks wallowing in denial and conspiracy theories such that it was now left for the APC government to rescue many of the girls and rehabilitate them.
“We assure Nigerians that the current administration remains committed to securing the release of the remaining Chibok schoolgirl still held in captivity by Boko Haram and ultimately rehabilitate and reunite them with their families and loved ones.
“The party is confident that reforms that the government has embarked on would improve the capacity and efficiency of our security agencies to prevent the kidnap of children by terrorists and diminish their ability to carry out attacks on soft targets.”
The ACF equally called on the military and other security agencies to sustain the synergy and fast-track the search and rescue of the remaining Chibok girls kidnapped four years ago that are still in captivity.
A statement issued yesterday and signed by the forum’s National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, said: “The good news from the Federal Government that the kidnapped female students of Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State that were abducted early this year by some Boko Haram terrorists have been released by their abductors is a welcome and reassuring development.
“ACF, therefore, commends the Federal Government for its commitment and determination to the rescue and release of the Dapchi girls. The release of the Dapchi girls has certainly gladdened the hearts of the affected parents, relations, the Yobe State government and other Nigerians.”