The Minister of Defence, Brig. Gen. Munir Dan-Ali,has said just as it took the United States close to about 10 years to find and finally kill world renowned terrorist, Osama Bin Ladin, finding the remaining 195 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram from their school in 2014 might also take longer years.
Dan-Ali said this in an interview he granted the Hausa Service of the Voice of America monitored in Abuja on Tuesday.
TheNewsGuru.com recalls that the Boko Haram terrorists abducted 276 school girls from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014.
However, while about 81 of the girls have been freed, 195 of them are still in the terrorist den.
In a strategic way of pressing home their demands for the release of the remaining girls, the concerned parents have vowed to continue marching daily to the Presidential Villa,Abuja, until they are granted audience by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The parents, who were again refused access to the State House on Tuesday, claimed they had become the president’s enemies after voting him into power.
Dan-Ali said the military had been pushing hard into areas where remnants of Boko Haram fighters are hiding within Sambisa forest, a vast area covering parts of three states in the North-East.
He was quoted as saying it took America a long time before it found Osama Bin Laden who was the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorists’ attacks in the United States.
Dan-Ali was quoted as saying, “It took America eight up to 10 years before it found Osama Bin Laden.”
Observers are of the view that, in spite of the many military victories over the terrorists, the inability to locate and free the remaining girls remains a sore point.
The kidnapped girls’ parents led by Rev. Enoch Mark, whose two daughters are among the missing ones, complained about the Presidency’s approach to the issue.
He said, “We are very sorry for giving Mr. President our votes. We voted Mr. President hoping he would rescue our daughters but we have become his enemies.
“Why can’t the president communicate with us, are we not Nigerians? Is that good for a president; a leader, to show such attitude. We believe the president is against the Chibok Community.”
Citing the plane crash incident in Malaysia, the cleric said the government of the Asian country consistently maintained links with the families of the victims during the tragedy and wondered why the Federal Government failed to empathise with the parents of the missing girls.
Mark questioned the capability of the government to rescue the girls, claiming that it was not involved in the rescue of the girls that were found.
“If our military are not capable of rescuing our children, that means any country can come in, fight and defeat Nigeria. It is sad that our president overlooked the military intelligence and told us he doesn’t know the whereabouts of our girls, it is very shameful,” he said.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) convener, Oby Ezekwesili also slammed the Federal Government over its refusal to find the remaining 195 girls maintaining that the war against insurgency is far from over until the remaining girls are safely delivered to their families.