N500m meant to rebuild Chibok school may have been diverted —Borno gov

Governor Kashim Shettima  of Borno State, on Tuesday, called for detailed investigation on what happened to the N500 million said to have been released for the reconstruction of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan announced the release of the money after the abduction of Chibok school girls.

Former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had flown to Chibok to inaugurate the N500 million rebuilding project under the Safe School Initiative programme.

Two years on, the project is yet to be completed while students of the school remain at home.

Shettima told residents of Chibok that the government would pressurise the Federal Government to uncover those who might have diverted the money.

The governor lamented that a lot of individuals and groups had turned the misfortune of Boko Haram victims into a money-making venture.

He said it was important to determine how much was released to the contractor handling the project as the school had remained in a state of disrepair.

Meanwhile, 21 of the freed girls of  Government Secondary School, Chibok, abducted by Boko Haram spent their  first Christmas with their parents.

To avoid apprehension or a repeat of the abduction by the insurgents, the girls were supported by  high-powered security delegation of  men of the state security service.

With the visit of Governor Kashim Shettima to Chibok, on Monday, the security around the ladies were further enhanced with more soldiers.

Governor Shettima, spent Monday, in Chibok town, where 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on April 14, 2014.

While in Chibok, the governor met the 21 schoolgirls recently freed by the Boko Haram in October, 2016 following a negotiation with the insurgents that was brokered by international mediators on behalf of the Federal Government.

Spokesman for the governor said  the girls consequently presented a gift of a medium sized framed photograph of themselves and the governor with a bold ‘Thank You’ printed on it during the visit.

While presenting the photograph, Glory Dama, one of the girls, said they deeply appreciated the show of love by Governor Shettima and his wife, Nana, who visited them countless times in Abuja, taking care of their needs while demanding to know their problems and sorting them out.

Shettima, who expressed concern for their future, said: “As you know, 56 of your colleagues who escaped abduction are currently in two international schools where they have been since 2014. We are taking care of all their educational needs from school fees to other basics.

“Left to me, I would want the 21 of you to join them in those two schools so that you can all feel at home and move on. However, the Federal Government has a plan which we will discuss jointly and come up with a decision that is acceptable to you our daughters.

“President Muhammadu Buhari loves you so much and he is deeply concerned about our daughters that are yet to be freed. He is working on that and we are all working.”

Shettima also announced the appointment of Yakubu Nkeki, chairman of the parents association of Chibok schoolgirls as councillor of Mbalala ward in Chibok Local Government Area of the state.

“We appointed Yakubu Nkeki as councillor for him to have a formal platform to continue his advocacy for the welfare of families of missing Chibok girls, and to ensure that they are given special consideration at all times by the the local government area on all issues, particularly on welfare, health, empowerment etc.

“Nkeki will also serve as a constant reminder to the council that there are parents like him who live in pains. He is simply there to advocate for the welfare of the parents and also as someone who has been a victim, he will stand by the efforts of government to protect schools through community surveillance in addition to formal security establishments,” Shettima said.

The governor also consoled parents whose daughters were yet to be seen, promising that all hands were on deck to ensure the return of all the former students of Government College, Chibok, still alive anywhere in  the world.

Governor Shettima directed the presentation of more assorted clothing to the girls and their parents having donated same to them when they first arrived.

“Nothing is too much for these girls and their parents. They have suffered too much and deserve our support,” the he noted.

After a working day in Chibok, the governor rested in Askira with a schedule to return to Chibok on Tuesday for meetings with community leaders and parents whose kids are yet to be recovered and even those of the 21 girls freed in October.

Askira was equally attacked by insurgents in 2014 forcing residents, including the emir, to flee to Maiduguri for solace until recently.

The emir returned some months back after his palace was rebuilt by Governor Shettima.

Hundreds of residents returned with their traditional ruler to the serenity of the sleepy town.

Also, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has disclosed that the recently-released 21 Chibok schoolgirls, were being treated as adoptees of the Federal Government, but conceded that there was a lot of local and international interest in the future plans of the girls.

According to him, “A black American billionaire, Mr Robert Smith, who is currently sponsoring the education of 24 girls from Chibok, among them the first set of escapees from Boko Haram at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, has offered to pay for the education of the 21 released through negotiations and is offering to take responsibility for all the others who will hopefully be eventually set free.

“The Murtala Mohammed Foundation in the country is equally interested.”

On the complaints by some of the parents of the 21 Chibok Girls that they did not have enough room for interaction with their daughters brought home for Christmas by the Department of State Services (DSS)  Shehu  admitted that there were some hitches arising from a lack of understanding of the objective of the trip on the part of some security operative, but that following the receipt of this complaint, a directive has been given from the headquarters for the access by the parents to be eased.