Hadiza Buhari-Bello, daughter of president Muhammadu Buhari pictured at the controversial event
The BringBackOurGirls, BBOG group has
slammed President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Hadiza Buhari-Bello, for
using its name to raise funds for Chibok girls.
Ms. Buhari-Bello organised an event
on Monday, October 17, 2016 where the Peace Corps of Nigeria donated
N3.5 million to her NGO, the Africa Support and Empowerment Initiative.
The donation was towards an endowment fund for the Chibok girls.
There wouldn’t be a problem about her
initiative if ‘BringBackOurGirls’ wasn’t printed on the backdrop banner
for the fundraiser.
Oby Ezekwesili, a co-founder of the
BringBackOurGirls movement, has issued a statement co-signed by Aisha
Yesufu, disassociated itself from the event. The group promised to
respond through its lawyer, Femi Falana.
The statement claimed that President
Buhari’s daughter was trying to smear it’s “hard-earned name” because it
is a self-funded group and not a “money-making NGO”.
#BringBackOurGirls campaigners protest the abducted in the remote
village of Chibok of 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram, during a protest at
Unity Park in Abuja May 11, 2014. | Reuters/Joe
“Following repeated enquiries from the
media, we stumbled upon information of an event tagged ‘Official
Inauguration and Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the
Chibok Girls Endowment Project’ organised by the ‘Peace Corps of
Nigeria’ and ‘Africa Support and Empowerment Initiative,’ with Hadiza
Buhari-Bello,” the statement read.
“We are shocked, perplexed and
completely dumbfounded to see the bold inscription of our hard-earned
name, #BringBackOurGirls, on the event’s backdrop. We state
categorically that we are not party to the said event and have
absolutely no information of its origin. We urge the general public to
disregard attempts at linking our movement to this highly suspicious
event.
“After 902 days of painstaking advocacy,
it is disheartening and unfortunate to suddenly see attempts, by
external actors, to use it for selfish purposes. We have carefully built
our reputation as a well-organised and disciplined global movement that
is completely self-funded.
“The deliberate decision, to remain
funded by sacrificial contributions of members for our very negligible
needs, is the reason we are solely a Citizens’ Movement, and not an NGO.
It will be highly injurious to allow it be dragged in the mud at this
point. We therefore demand an immediate retraction and unreserved
apology from the organisers.
“Together with our lawyers, Femi Falana
& Co., we are considering a response to this attempt to smear our
movement. We call on the general public and law enforcement agencies to
be on the lookout for unscrupulous persons who may already be/are
planning similar nefarious acts to deceive the local and international
community.”
“I tried to contact members of the
group, but I couldn’t reach any of them,” Onwuka Don Uche, a scribe for
the NGO told TheCable.
“I dropped a message for Oby Ezekwesili
on Twitter, but there was no response. We will reach out to group. It is
purely a fund for the Chibok girls, and we want to make BBOG a
signatory to the account.”
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