Mothers of Chibok Schoolgirls in March 2015

The Federal Government has expressed some doubts over the suicide bomber arrested in Cameroon who claimed to be one of the 219 missing Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram two years ago.

In a statement today, Malam Garba Shehu, senior special assistant on media to President Buhari, said fresh information from Cameroon indicated that the two arrested bombers are about 10 years old, which rule either of the two as a possible Chibok schoolgirl. The lost girls were teenagers when they were taken away by Boko Haram gunmen on 14 April, 2014 as they came to school to prepare for the West African School Certificate examinations.

“It has been confirmed that one of two girls is claiming to be among the girls stolen from Chibok on April 14, last year, although doubts have creeped into the claim following new information from Cameroon that the two girls are aged about 10 years,’’ Garba stated.

According to the statement, one of the two is also believed to be heavily drugged and therefore not in full control of her senses.

Nevertheless, the Federal Government is to send some members of the Chibok community to Cameroon, to verify the identity of the two girls.

Garba said the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan and Nigerian high commissioner in Cameroon had swung into action and were receiving a lot of cooperation from the Cameroonian authorities.

Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Cameroon, Amb. Hadiza Mustapha, had confirmed that the arrested girls might be brought to the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, on Monday, at which point the High Commission would seek permission to meet with them.

The statement said that the Murtala Mohammed Foundation had offered to cooperate with federal government in sponsoring two parents from Chibok, who had been selected to embark on the trip to Cameroon.

“The two are Yakubu Nkeki, Chairman of the Parents of the Abducted Girls from Chibok association, and Yana Galang, the group’s women leader.

“The Nigerian High Commission will receive the two and will facilitate their access to the two girls once permission to meet and verify their identity is obtained from the Cameroonian authorities,’’ the statement added.

About 270 Chibok schoolgirls were reported to have been abducted by members of the Boko Haram terror sect at the Chibok Government Secondary School in Borno about two years ago.

About 51 of the affected schoolgirls escaped from their abductors, who were transporting them to unknown destinations.