Stop acting like opposition party, FG tells BBOG

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The Federal Government has urged the Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG) to limit itself to advocacy activities instead of acting like an opposition party.

The Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja yesterday.

He said it was intimidating for the group to state that it would no longer accept “delays and excuses” from President Muhammadu Buhari on the release of the missing Chibok girls.
He urged the group to deal with government as a partner rather than as an adversary to secure the girls’ release.The minister advised them to direct such impudent language to those who refused to do anything in the first 500 days of the girls’ abduction.

 

Leader of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, Oby Ezekwesili (right) and others at the main entrance to the Presidential Villa, Abuja. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA

Mohammed explained that the Buhari’s administration has done so much on the issue, including the liberation of all captured territories, reopening of schools and roads and the release of some of them.

He warned against any confrontational approach, which he said would be counter-productive.

He said: “‘The Federal Government had tried to carry the group along in the search for the girls. The recent invitation extended to them by the Nigerian Air Force was a clear indication that government was transparent.

“It came to us as a surprise that despite the group’s initial positive report on the tour, it had again reverted to its confrontational role. The BBOG should limit its role as an advocacy group rather than pretending to be an opposition party. The synonyms of the word “advocacy do not include antagonism, opposition or attack.”

The minister explained that government’s efforts to bring back the girls safely were still on going, but stressed that divulging the details could threaten the results.

‘’Let me say unequivocally that the people involved in the negotiations are working round the clock, but the discussions are complicated and any wrong signal could derail the process.

“We need confidence-building like the type that led to the earlier release of some of the girls. Unfortunately, this had been lacking for years, but we are on the right track now,” he said.

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