FG bars Chibok girls from sharing experiences with parents — Relative tells Aljazera

Cross-sections of the released Chibok girls at the Medical Centre of the Department of State Services for check-up in Abuja

A relative of one of the rescued Chibok girls, Peter Joseph, says the Federal Government has barred the girls from telling their parents or relatives about their experiences in Boko Haram captivity.

Joseph said this during a programme on Al Jazeera titled, “The Stream.”

He said his niece was one of the 21 schoolgirls rescued in October 2016 while his sister is still in Boko Haram captivity.

Joseph said over six months since their rescue, the schoolgirls had not been united with their families.

He said in December last year, the girls were allowed to return to Chibok but were kept in a government facility where their parents visited them. He said the girls were not allowed to go to their parents’ homes.

Joseph said, “I think there is something that the Federal Government does not want us to know and that is why they are keeping them away. Even when they [the schoolgirls] travelled to Chibok, they were not allowed to go to their houses.

“They were kept in government facilities in Chibok and anyone who visited them was made to sign a register, state the village where they came from, whom they wanted to see and then a time limit was given, after which you were asked to leave and there were certain things that you were not allowed to ask the girls.

“You can’t ask them about their experiences in Sambisa Forest. I mean, we don’t get it. Even now that 82 girls have been rescued, what has the government done about them? Up till today, the families have not met the girls.”

~PUNCH