Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos [Nigeria], in an interview with FIDES [the News Agency for the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples] has said “it is worrying that we do not know anything about the Chibok girls one year after their kidnapping”.
In his interview he continues, “Our thoughts go to the girls and their families… one year after their abduction we do not know where the girls are. It is a deep pain for the families whose daughters disappeared suddenly without a trace. I can imagine their anguish. But they are not alone, because the whole community and Nigerian families are with them”.
The President of the Episcopal Conference of Nigeria, however, emphasizes that it is “of concern that after one year, despite the commitments made by our government and the international community, very little has been achieved: not only the girls have not been released but nothing is known about their fate”.
“On the other hand we are grateful for the progress made in recent months in terms of the recovery of territorial control from Boko Haram, whose activities are now limited”, he says. “What is important now is to intensify efforts to track down the girls. The new government has promised to do more. The President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, is a former senior official who knows the military and intelligence issues very well. We hope to be able to outline a strategy to defeat Boko Haram and bring home the kidnapped girls”, concluded the Archbishop.
Boko Haram violence continues to stalk Nigeria and Al Jazeera TV station reports on the terrible death inflicted on an innocent woman mistaken for a suicide bomber in Bauchi.