FG still negotiating release of remaining Chibok girls – Minister

The Federal Government is still negotiating the release of the
remaining Chibok girls in Boko Haram captivity, the Minister of
Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Jummai Alhassan, said
yesterday. She also urged Nigerians, especially the media, to avoid
reopening the girls’ wounds by asking them to recount their
experiences in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.
The minister said at a news conference in Abuja that such questions
would only make the girls relive their bad experiences. She noted
that it took the federal government seven months to secure the
release of 82 of them after the release of the first set of in May
2016. She said so far, the girls had gradually overcome their
trauma and were ready to be reintegrated into the community and
further their education.

According to her, the 106 released girls will be returning to
their respective communities in Chibok on holidays like all other
students to spend at least a week with their parents before they go
to school.

She said: “The girls have been provided psycho-social support
services to help erase unpleasant memories and override their
traumatic experiences. So far, they are now stabilized and most of
their traumatic stress disorder symptoms have been overcome and
previous frequent incidents of flashbacks, insomnia and nightmares
have now been successfully brought under control.

“Through rigorous and extensive time with social workers,
councilors and psychologists, the girls are now looking forward to
a bright and promising future. The girls are not kept in isolation,
they are going to university,” she said.

The minister said all the 106 girls were being confined to a
single school in the Northeast because the AUN is the only
institution with the foundation programme required for them.

She added that some of the over 50 girls who escaped were taken
to private schools in Jos and Zaria but the schools were said to
have told the government that they did not have the capacity for
such a large number.

The Federal Government is still negotiating the release of the
remaining Chibok girls in Boko Haram captivity, the Minister of
Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Jummai Alhassan, said
yesterday. She also urged Nigerians, especially the media, to avoid
reopening the girls’ wounds by asking them to recount their
experiences in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.
The minister said at a news conference in Abuja that such questions
would only make the girls relive their bad experiences. She noted
that it took the federal government seven months to secure the
release of 82 of them after the release of the first set of in May
2016. She said so far, the girls had gradually overcome their
trauma and were ready to be reintegrated into the community and
further their education.

According to her, the 106 released girls will be returning to
their respective communities in Chibok on holidays like all other
students to spend at least a week with their parents before they go
to school.

She said: “The girls have been provided psycho-social support
services to help erase unpleasant memories and override their
traumatic experiences. So far, they are now stabilized and most of
their traumatic stress disorder symptoms have been overcome and
previous frequent incidents of flashbacks, insomnia and nightmares
have now been successfully brought under control.

“Through rigorous and extensive time with social workers,
councilors and psychologists, the girls are now looking forward to
a bright and promising future. The girls are not kept in isolation,
they are going to university,” she said.

The minister said all the 106 girls were being confined to a
single school in the Northeast because the AUN is the only
institution with the foundation programme required for them.

She added that some of the over 50 girls who escaped were taken
to private schools in Jos and Zaria but the schools were said to
have told the government that they did not have the capacity for
such a large number.