TEXT OF A
WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND
CULTURE, ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, ON THE RELEASE OF 21 CHIBOK GIRLS, ON
THURSDAY, OCT. 13TH 2016, AT THE OBASANJO HALL, FEDERAL SECRETARIAT,
ABUJA.
Gentlemen of the press, good afternoon.
We have called this press conference at a very short notice to brief you
on the latest development in the saga of the abducted Chibok Girls.
2. We can confirm that 21 of the girls were released, safely,
to us by 5.30 this Thursday morning and they were flown to Kaduna from
the location of their release. This is the most glaring manifestation to
date of the unwavering commitment of Mr. President to secure the safe
release of the girls and reunite them with their families. It is also a
result of the round-the-clock efforts by the Administration to put a
closure to the sad issue of the kidnap of the girls.
3. We expect the released girls to land
in Abuja shortly. Ahead of their arrival, we have assembled a team of
medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, trauma experts, etc to
properly examine the girls, especially because they have been in
captivity for so long. They will also be adequately debriefed. We have
the list of the 21 girls but we are now contacting their parents as part
of the necessary verification exercise. As soon as that is concluded,
we will release the names to the public.
4. Gentlemen, as we have always said, we
have been working on the safe release of the girls and following all
the leads available. In this instance, the moment we had a credible
lead, Mr President gave the green-light to the DSS to pursue it. We can
confirm that the DSS pursued the lead in collaboration with a friendly
European country and a renowned international humanitarian organization.
The DSS was supported by the military.
5. As soon as the necessary confidence
was built on both sides, the parties agreed on the date and the location
of the release of the 21 girls. Please note that this is not a swap. It
is a release, the product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both
sides.
6. We see this as a credible first step
in the eventual release of all the Chibok Girls in captivity. It is also
a major step in confidence-building between us as a government and the
Boko Haram leadership on the issue of the Chibok Girls.
7. We want to thank all Nigerians for
their support and for never losing confidence in the ability of Mr.
President to secure the safe release of our Chibok Girls.
8. Gentlemen of the press, I thank you all for your kind attention
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Oct. 13th 2016
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Oct. 13th 2016
0 comments:
Post a Comment