•BBOG commends military, says Salome is No. 15, not 86, on missing list
•Troops rescue 2,000
From Molly Kilete, Abuja and Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
There was celebration in Chibok community in Borno State, yesterday, when Salomi Pogu, one of 276 girls abducted by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014, was rescued by soldiers in Pulka, near Gwoza, South East of Maiduguri, the state capital.
With Salomi’s return, the community said there is hope for the rescue of the remaining girls in Boko Haram’s captivity.
Some residents of Chibok also said they were excited about Salomi’s release.
“We are glad and we are in the mood of celebration,” Maina Chibok told Daily Sun, yesterday.
He was quick to add that he was yet to see the Pogu family.
Salomi was rescued by the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, counter-insurgency military forces at Pulka, in a statement by the spokesman of the operation, Colonel Onyema Nwachukwu.
Nwachukwu said Salomi was rescued with another girl identified as Jamila Adams.
“So far, preliminary investigations reveal that the young girl identified as Salomi Pogu is the same as the Chibok girl published on serial 86 of the online list of abducted Chibok girls.
“The girl, who was intercepted in the company of another young girl, Jamila Adams, about 14 years old, with a child, are in the safe custody of troops and are receiving medical attention,” he said yesterday.
Meanwhile, although the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG), an advocacy group championing the return of the girls, confirmed Salomi as one of the missing school girls, the group said she is number 15 and not 86, as claimed by the military on its list of the missing Chibok schoolgirls.
The BBOG, in a statement by its spokesperson, Sesugh Akume, commended the military for the rescue, but said it would continue its march to demand for the release of the remaining girls on January 23.
“Our movement is delighted to confirm this news to be true. Salomi Pogu is a daughter of Mallam Pogu Yahi from Kaumutahyahi, a village in Kuburmbula ward of Chibok Local Government Area. Both parents are currently IDPs in Rumirgo Village, in nearby Askira/Uba Local Government Area in Borno State.
“She is Number 15 on the publicly known list of missing #ChibokGirls, not Number 86, as the military said.
“This brings the number of our missing #ChibokGirls to 112.
“We are yet to ascertain further details about Jamila Adams and the baby.”
Out of the 276, girls abducted, in April 2014, 57 were said to have escaped from the terrorist’s hideout in Sambisa forest, leaving 217, in captivity.
On May 19, 2016, a vigilante group found one of the missing schoolgirls at Sambisa. Two days later, on May, 21, 2016, the Army announced the rescue of a second schoolgirl, also at Sambisa.
On Wednesday, October 14, government announced the release of 21 more girls, bringing the number of kidnapped girls still in custody of the terrorists to 113.
The 21 girls, upon their release at a particular location in Banki, a border town in Bama Local Government Area, were immediately flown to Maiduguri, in a chopper.
On May, 6, 2017, there was jubilation in the country when the Federal Government confirmed the release of yet another 82 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
Their release, according to Presidency sources, was in exchange for some Boko Haram suspects held by the authorities.
Negotiations to rescue the school girls, it was gathered, involved some local agencies, the Swiss Government and the International Red Cross.
The girls, who have since undergone and completed rehabilitation in Abuja, have since been enrolled in various schools in the country.
In a related development, Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Rogers Nicolas, told newsmen,in Maiduguri, yesterday, that troops have rescued over 2, 000 people including men, women and children in the northern fringe of Borno, bordering the Lake Chad Basin.
Nicolas also said 200 Boko Haram insurgents surrendered to troops during operations around the Basin and Sambisa general area.
Nicolas said it was during the operation that Salomi was rescued yesterday morning and that “troops have recaptured a number of Islands held by the insurgents in the Lake Chad Basin.”
He listed items recovered from them to include gun trucks, rocket launchers, armoured vehicles and ammunition.
The commander said the troops inflicted “heavy casualties” on the insurgents and made arrests, with a promise to give details at a later date.
|Sun
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