"Stop pretending to be an opposition party," FG blasts group

The federal government has cautioned the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group to stick to its advocacy role rather than pretend like an opposition party.

In a statement in Abuja on Monday, January 23, 2017, the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, decried BBOG's continued portrayal of the government as an adversary and the "needless firing of darts" at President Muhammadu Buhari.

''The Federal Government has bent over backwards to carry the BBOG along and to show transparency in the conduct of the search for the girls," Alhaji Mohammed said.

The minister continued: "The recent invitation extended to the group to witness first-hand the search for the girls by the Nigerian Air Force is a clear indication of this.

''However, it came to us as a surprise that in spite of its initial positive report on the tour, the BBOG has too quickly reverted to its adversarial role.

"BBOG should stick to 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'. In fact, those words are the antonyms of 'advocacy','' he said.

Alhaji Mohammed said it amounts to "needless grandstanding for the BBOG to say it would no longer tolerate delays and excuses from the President on the release of the girls."

The minister noted that such "impudent language" should have been reserved for the Goodluck Jonathan administration which "did nothing in the first 500 days of the girls' abduction."

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He maintained that President Buhari has presided over the liberation of all captured territory, the opening of shuts schools and roads, the safe release of some of the abducted girls and the decimation of Boko Haram.

He assured Nigerians that the efforts to bring the Chibok girls back safely are continuing, but sought BBOG's understanding not to jeopardize the intricate process.

''Let me say unequivocally that the people involved in the negotiations are working 24/7. The negotiations are complicated, tortuous and delicate. Any wrong signal is capable of derailing things. That's why the less we say about the talks the better it is for all.

''We need a huge amount of confidence-building, the kind of which led to the release of the 21 of the girls. This has been lacking for years, but right now we are confident that we are on the right track. We won't do anything to jeopardize these talks, irrespective of the pressure or provocation from any quarter,'' the Minister said.

recalls that Dr Oby Ezekwesili, Aisha Yesufu and some members of the BBOG group were invited to embark on the trip to the northeast and Sambisa forest to witness first-hand the efforts being made to rescue the remaining Chibok girls and other abductees.