New documentary, ‘Coming Home,’ features footage on rescued Chibok girls

• Security men deny parents entry to State House
• ‘It is shameful military intelligence cannot locate our girls’
As Nigeria commemorated the third anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls, several public events and efforts by different groups and individuals re-echoed the sad occurrence and the attendant urgency of a final resolution.

Lagos-based ABDAM Creative Media was recently granted access by the Federal Government in its production of a 26-minute documentary titled, Coming Home.

The documentary highlights impact of the tragedy that Boko Haram unleashed on Nigeria and the determination of the Buhari administration to defeat the terrorists and ensure freedom for thousands of captives, including the rest of the girls abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, on the night of April 14, 2014.

Coming Home features exclusive footage/interviews with the 24 rescued girls, who are all currently in the care of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, which has developed a nine-month programme of rehabilitation and reintegration for them. This programme, which includes a special remedial and vocational education component, kicked off in January 2017 after the girls returned from their first visit home to Chibok in December 2016.

The Osun State Government recently donated customised educational computer tablets, ‘Opon Imo’ (tablet of knowledge), to the rescued girls. Opon Imo is pre-loaded with the government-approved educational curriculum, covering Senior Secondary School (SSS) 1, 2 and 3, and is credited with producing a significant improvement in West African Examination Council (WAEC) results in the state.

The Coming Home documentary features the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari; wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo; Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan; Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Chairman of the Chibok Girls Parents Association, Yakubu Nkeki; and the girls’ caregivers.

Meanwhile, parents of the missing girls were yesterday refused entry to the State House by security men during their march to the Presidential Villa.

The Chibok parents, led by Rev. Enoch Mark, lamented the poor communication attitude of the Presidency with the parents of the abducted girls.

Mark, who questioned the capability of the government to rescue the girls, said: “If our intelligent military are not capable of rescuing our children, that means any country can come in, fight and defeat Nigeria. It is sad our President overlooked the military intelligence and told us he doesn’t know the whereabouts of our girls, it is very shameful.”

The parents, who insisted they must see President Muhammadu Buhari, were told by State House officials that he would not be able to see them, as it (Monday) was a public holiday.

It was agreed that they return the following day (yesterday) at 2:00 p.m.

The parents showed up as promised but were refused entry.

A security official, who addressed them yesterday, promised he would get the messages of the parents to the President.