The Federal Government has invited members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign to Sambisa forest in Borno State.
The government’s letter of invitation was sent to the BBOG group through one of its conveners, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, and was signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed.
The minister said only three members of the group would join the trip, which he said was being planned by the military on Monday.
The group will be taken to the Nigeria Air Force Command Centre in Yola and the forest in Borno State.
In the letter dated January 11, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, the minister congratulated the group for its unwavering interest “in the fate of the Chibok girls, including those who have regained freedom and those who remain in captivity.”
In its reaction to the invitation, the BBOG said it had met and had agreed that the “movement is open to exploring the opportunity for a visit to the North-East theatre of war as presented” in the invitation.
Ezekwesili, who replied the minister’s letter, however set some conditions, which she said must be met before the group could proceed.
The former minister in her reply dated January 13, 2017, proposed a pre-tour meeting to “discuss pertinent issues that will help inform our decision to proceed.”
In a fresh reaction to BBOG, the Federal Government rejected the conditions given by the group for joining the mission to Sambisa Forest.
In a letter addressed to the convener of the group, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, which was made available to the media on Sunday, the government said it was unable to postpone the trip as scheduled.
The letter dated Jan. 14 was signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
‘’Thank you for your letter, dated Jan. 13, which is in response to ours of Jan. 11, requesting that we change the date of the proposed guided tour of the North-East to accommodate a Pre-Tour Meeting between your organisation and some top officials of the Federal Government.
‘’We have also noted the conditions you gave for embarking on the trip which include the said Pre-Tour Meeting and the retraction of some remarks allegedly made by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. – Gen. Tukur Buratai, which the #BBOG finds to be slanderous.
‘’We regret, however, to inform you that we are unable to postpone the trip as scheduled. ’’
The government insisted the team would proceed on the trip on Monday as scheduled because of the narrow window available to have a good weather on the day.
It said that payment for the satellite downlink streaming of the mission had been made for the day and shifting the date will require another round of booking to secure such a slot.
The government added that apart from the BBOG members, local and international journalists had been invited for the trip, while some preparations had been made by the Nigerian military.
It noted that the remarks purportedly made by the Chief of Army Staff and the request for a meeting with its certain top officials were irrelevant to its request for the BBOG to join in the search mission.
The government stressed that it extended the invitation to the BBOG in recognition of the group’s commitment to the safe release of the Chibok girls in captivity and interest in the welfare of those who had been released.
‘’We hope that the BBOG will drop its conditions and join the trip which shows the commitment of the Federal Government to securing freedom for the Chibok girls and its transparency in handling the issues of the girls.’’
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