Policemen on Tuesday frustrated moves by the BringBackOurGirls
group to march to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to engage with
President Goodluck Jonathan, on efforts of the security agencies to
rescue the 219 Chibok schoolgirls in Boko Haram captivity.
The protesters were stopped from
accessing the villa gate and their protest was restricted to the Yakubu
Gowon Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja, where they were addressed by an
all-female government delegation including the Minister for Women
Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Lawrencia
Laraba-Mallam, the Minister of Land and Housing, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi,
and the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe.
Motorists and pedestrians, who wanted to
use the Gowon Crescent access road to the villa, were turned back by
stern-looking security personnel, who barricaded the road with their
vehicles.
Maina, while addressing the movement said
the Federal Government was doing everything possible to ensure the safe
release of the schoolgirls.
She said, “We are here to meet you
because Mr. President is very busy today and he cannot come out. The
government is trying all it could to make sure that these girls are
brought back. They are our daughters. We are all mothers; as much as it
hurts you, it hurts us. You know as well as we do that some of you are
very much aware of the efforts that the government has been making to
make sure that these our daughters are brought back alive.”
But the BBOG Coordinator and a former
Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwezili, accused the ministers of
colluding with the police to prevent the protesters from meeting with
Jonathan.
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