- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Government has wrapped up its support programme for the rescued Chibok Girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014.
The support programme was on Monday concluded with the graduation ceremony of 21 beneficiaries enrolled into a skill acquisition centre in Adamawa state.
Addressing newsmen at the event, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, harped on the need for collective effort in ensuring the full recovery of the students.
Suleiman-Ibrahim hailed the resilience of the Chibok girls, disclosing that 12 out of the students have completed their degree programme at the American University of Nigeria.
‘All of us have to come together to help them recover. We can’t keep reminding them of the sad part of their lives.
‘We have to remind them of the good part, the future because these children have been resilient. Today we have girls that have not only graduated. We were able to see 12 girls graduate from the AUN.
‘Today, we are graduating 22 girls from the skill centre.’ She said.
According to the minister, 21 more beneficiaries are currently studying for degree programmes at the American University of Nigeria and are expected to graduate in 2027.
Meanwhile, the beneficiaries who graduated today were gifted N1 million each as childcare support. I
In addition, 221 parents of the rescued girls were presented with business merchandise and N200,000 each to strengthen their own livelihood.
Recall that a total of 276 Chibok girls were on the night of 14–15 April 2014, kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect spearheadedby the now late Ibrahim Shekarau.
Prior to the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in attendance to take final exams in physics.
After the incident, 57 schoolgirls immediately escaped by jumping from the trucks on which they were being transported, and others have been rescued by the Nigerian Armed Forces on various occasions.
Amina Ali, one of the missing girls, was found in May 2016. She claimed that the remaining girls were still there, but that six had died.
On 14 April 2021, seven years after the initial kidnapping, over 100 of the girls remained missing.
As of 14 April 2024, ten years after the kidnapping, 82 of the girls remained missing and presumed captive.
Meanwhile, some of the rescued victims had struggled with recovery from their ordeal as they were reportedly subjected to stigmatisation by their communities.