Chibok Abduction: CACOL Urges FG To Be Accountable
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has urged the Federal Government to be accountable to Nigerians in prosecuting war against terrorism in the country.
This came on the heels of the commemoration of the 100 days of the abduction of the school girls in Chibok Village, Borno State.
Speaking on behalf of the Coalition, its Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, averred that over N1tn spent on prosecuting the war has not yielded the desired result and therefore urged the FG to be accountable to Nigerians.
He said, “It is 100 days today that the girls were taken into captivity. It is unthinkable that for the first 19 days of the abduction, the Federal Government didn’t give the Borno State Government the benefit of doubt that the girls might have been abducted. It took the intervention of some well-meaning Nigerians and some countries like America, South Africa etc to mount pressure on the FG. Even when the government came to terms with the abduction, all they did was grandstanding and propaganda.
For all we know, the over N1trn has been sunk into the Boko Haram expedition without any desirable result. No hostage has been truly rescued only that the Military lied that they rescued those abductees that took the courageous step of escaping from the perilous den of the insurgents and several other lies to the extent that it has become difficult for us to believe what they say. They once told us that the leader of the insurgents, Abubakar Shekau had been killed only for him to resurface in several videos and international media to tell the world that he’s still alive.
Be that as it may, it is ridiculous that the country that boasts of more than $1bn in its Sovereign Wealth and Excess Crude Accounts could go cap in hands begging for foreign loan. Could that prove the truism that the FG engineered the insurgency to be able to assess foreign aids to finance the 2015 elections? It is therefore difficult to believe that the $1bn being sought will be judiciously appropriated. However, that is not to say that we are not going to support any step that the government claims would lead to the rescue of the abducted girls as no sacrifice would be too much to rescue the innocent children.
That is why we will reluctantly not campaign against the taking of the loan but we insist on accountability at the end of the day and the gain made out of the financial empowerment must be glaring to everybody because all what have been put so far into that expedition exists only in the words of the administrator of the funds.
We therefore suggest that the FG should assuage the fear of Nigerians by converting the Theophillus Danjuma’s Committee on Victims Support Fund to a Trust that will manage and monitor the administration of the loan to ensure frugality and prudence. The Committee, if it cannot be reconstituted, should be strengthened with relevant professional bodies like the Nigerian Bar Association NBA, Nigerian Medical Association NMA, Accountants, credible Civil Society Organisations CSOs, the Military as well as the Ministry of Finance to be sure that every kobo is judiciously spent and trail is left to give room for audit.
