The Presidency has reacted to Ahmed Salkida’s latest information on the abducted Chibok girls alleging that only 15 of the remaining 113 abducted Chibok schoolgirls are alive.
The presidency says this information is fake!
Sakilda is a Nigerian journalist based in Dubai and self-acclaimed negotiator in the Chibok girls saga.
Sakilda in a series of posts he made via his twitter handle days ago, said the 15 surviving girls had been married off, “indoctrinated and might no longer be interested in returning home.
Salkida, who said he’s part of the negotiating team for the release of the girls since the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, enjoined the Buhari administration to “demand for proof of life, as it carries out negotiations to secure the release of the remaining girls still in captivity”.
However, Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, debunked Salkida’s claims in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.
The presidential aide stated that Salkida was neither involved in the processes that resulted in the release of the over 100 Chibok girls nor in the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls in captivity.
He said:
“Following the numerous press enquiries on the information contained in the series of tweets by Mr Ahmed Salkida, we wish to reiterate that the information is not known to the officials of this administration either from the captors of the Chibok girls or the international intercessors who are working with us.
“We wish to confirm that Mr Salkida is not involved, on behalf of the Nigerian government in the processes leading to the release of the over 100 Chibok Girls that have returned to their families, so far, and is not involved in the current processes to secure the release of those still held in captivity.’
“We are concerned and aware that it is taking long to bring the rest of our daughters back home, but be assured that this administration is doing its very best to free the girls from their captors.
“Unfortunately, the negotiations between the government and Boko Haram suffered some unexpected setbacks, owing mainly to a lack of agreement among their abductors, whose internal differences have led to a divergence of voices regarding the outcome of the talks.
“We know that this is not the news parents want to hear after four whole years of waiting, but we want to be as honest as possible with you.
“However, this government is not relenting. We will continue to persist, and the parents should please not give up.
”Don’t give up hope of seeing our daughters back home again. Don’t lose faith in this government’s ability to fulfill our promise of reuniting you with our daughters.
“Don’t imagine for a moment that we have forgotten about our daughters or that we consider their freedom a lost course,’’ the President said.
