News
Let freed Chibok girls reunite with families, community tells govt
The Kibaku Area Development Association has asked the Borno State Government to allow the Chibok schoolgirls so far rescued from Boko Haram to reunite with their families.
The community made the demand at a press conference held at the Unity Fountain in Abuja on Sunday in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.
On the night of April 14, 276 female students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, aged 16 to 18 and mostly Christians, were kidnapped by the fundamentalist group, Boko Haram.
Before the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in school to take final exams in Physics.
A few hours before the raid, residents in Chibok reportedly received phone calls from neighbouring villages, warning of the incoming attack, as they sighted convoys containing armed insurgents driving in the direction of the town.
The terrorists reportedly broke into the school, dressed in military camouflage and pretended to be soldiers of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The attack lasted for about five hours, during which houses in Chibok were also burnt.
The development generated both national and international outcry against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, with an advocacy group, Bring Back Our Girls, formed to raise awareness and collaborate with the families and Chibok community to demand government action on the girls.
A decade later, the fate of 89 of the girls remains uncertain, while some of them have regained freedom.
Some of the schoolgirls had escaped immediately following the incident by jumping from the trucks in which they were being transported, and others were rescued by the Nigerian Armed Forces on various occasions.
According to the Kibaku Area Development Association, some of those rescued have been in the custody of the Borno State government and are yet to be reunited with their families.
Speaking during the Abuja press conference on Sunday, the National President of the Kibaku community (otherwise known as Chibok), Dauda Iliya, decried what he termed the second captivity of the released girls by the Borno State Government.
“We demand the urgent release of the rescued girls in the custody of the Borno State government to their families and not to anybody, nor the terrorists, the so-called repentant terrorists that were in the first place their abductors.
“The girls’ consent and that of their parents and guardians were not sought before they were abducted. As such, what is the basis to seek their consent before they are allowed to be returned to their parents? We demand that we are availed all the rescued daughters at home and in school, for any organisation or group that wants to support them.
“There should be no restrictions. Borno State does not hold any monopoly over them. What we understand today is that these girls are held a second time in captivity, this time, by the government.” he said.
The association also challenged the government at all levels to bring an end to the fiasco by ensuring the rescue of the remaining girls.
Iliya further faulted the Borno State Government for the ‘obnoxious marriages’ between the returnee girls and ‘the so-called repentant terrorists,’ while also threatening legal actions against the state government for referencing marriages between the released girls and the terrorists.
“On this occasion of the 10th-year commemoration of the abduction of our daughters, we strongly challenge governments at all levels, federal, state and local, to work towards bringing closure, one way or the other, to this fiasco. To do nothing in the past decade is completely unacceptable.
“We demand a formal rebuttal and apology to all the families and the community at large, for the illegal cohabitation, encouraged by the Borno State Government, by calling the terrorists their husbands, and the failures to do so may result in legal action against the Borno State Government and all its officials, who have used this insulting and demeaning terminology to describe a very ugly and painful situation 10 years too long, too painful to bear,” he said.
When contacted on Sunday, the Borno State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security, Prof. Usman Tar, said he had spoken on the issue of Chibok girls on Saturday and was not disposed to speaking further.
In a press release on Saturday, the commissioner had said 187 of the abducted girls had been rescued and reunited with their families.
He said, “We also wish to use this occasion to take stock of the rescued girls and provide an update on how the girls are coming to terms with adjusting to normal life after captivity, and efforts of the Borno State Government to sustain the momentum on the rescue of the remaining girls.
“So far, out of the 276 abducted Chibok Girls,187 have been rescued and reunited with their families. Most of the rescued girls have, over the years, been enrolled in different schools or graduated under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs. A number of the girls have been enrolled into local and foreign scholarships or empowerment programmes. Many have since been reunited with their immediate families and are continuing to receive psychosocial support to reconcile them with normal life.
“Furthermore, 16 recently rescued girls are being rehabilitated by the Borno State Government and attending the 2nd Chance School where they learn skills in various vocations that will provide them with sustainable livelihoods, while their kids are also placed in nursery schools. Four rescued girls have voluntarily decided to return to their parents.
We remain hopeful and determined that, with the combined efforts of our security forces, intelligence agencies, and community support, all abducted persons will be safely returned.”
Parents lament
One of the parents, Mrs Rebecca Samuel, whose first daughter, Grace, is among the still-missing girls, told our correspondent that she would be happy to have her daughter back, regardless of the condition in which she was returned.
“As a mother, all I want, in whichever shape and in whichever form, is that they bring my daughter back to me. In whichever way she comes, I will welcome her, because she is my blood,” she said.
The Northern Christian Association has cautioned Nigerians and believers against engaging in hostile religious arguments, saying no Christian can defend God through insults or abusive exchanges.
Chairman of the association, Joseph Hayab, gave the warning in a statement issued in Kaduna, urging Christians, especially youths and clergy, to exercise restraint amid growing religious provocations on social media.
He noted many online debates presented as defence of the faith are contrary to biblical teachings and risk deepening religious divisions.
Hayab described such engagements as vain and unprofitable arguments, warning that they often lead to strife and ungodliness.
The cleric further stressed that Christians must not respond to provocation with hostility, even when their faith is ridiculed.
He maintained that God, being omnipotent, does not require human defence through verbal attacks.
Hayab further warned that using abusive language in the name of defending the faith undermines the core message of love and peace in Christianity.
He added that such actions weaken the moral authority of the Christian faith and misrepresent its true values.
The Christian body insists that with social media platforms increasingly becoming arenas for religious confrontations, the association is urging Christians to shun divisive engagements and uphold peaceful coexistence.
News
FG Drops Terrorism Financing Charges Against Malami and Son
At the Federal High Court in Abuja the prosecution formally withdrew the original five-count charge of alleged terrorism financing and unlawful possession of firearms that was filed by the Department of State Services.
The Federal Government has withdrawn the allegations of terrorism financing against former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami.
The charges were dropped Wednesday in court, leaving only counts related to unlawful possession of firearms.
At the Federal High Court in Abuja the prosecution formally withdrew the original five-count charge of alleged terrorism financing and unlawful possession of firearms that was filed by the Department of State Services.
Prosecutor, Chief Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, who is representing the current Attorney-General of the Federation, told the court that the government has filed a fresh amended five-count charge dated 14th April.
Former Minister Abubakar Malami and his son, Abdulaziz, took a fresh plea before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to all the amended counts.
The court admitted them to bail on the same terms previously granted and adjourned the matter to the 26th of May and 15th of June for the commencement of trial.
This latest twist significantly narrows the case against the former chief law officer of the federation and his son.
In the former charge Malami was accused of knowingly abetting terrorism financing by allegedly refusing to prosecute suspected terrorism financiers whose case files were forwarded to his office as AGF (around November 2022), in breach of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The other charges in the previous five counts:
In December 2025, at their home in Kebbi State, they allegedly possessed without a license a Sturm Magnum 17-0101 firearm, 16 live Redstar AAA 5’20 cartridges, and 27 expended cartridges. This is framed as conduct in preparation for an act of terrorism under the Terrorism Act and Firearms Act.
AMENDED CHARGES
COUNT ONE
THAT YOU Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, and Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, sometime in December, 2025, at Geeze Phase II Area, Birnin Kebbi LGA, Kebbi State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did engage in preparation to commit acts of terrorism by having in your possession and without license, a Sturm Magnum 17 – 0101 firearm, Sixteen (16) Redstar AAA 5’20 live rounds of Cartridges and Twenty-Seven (27) expended Redstar and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 29 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
COUNT TWO
THAT YOU, Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, and Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, sometime in December, 2025, at Geeze Phase II Area, Birnin Kebbi LGA, Kebbi State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did conspire amongst yourselves in preparation to commit acts of terrorism by having in your possession and without a license a Sturm Magnum 17 – 0101 firearm, Sixteen (16) Redstar AAA 5’20 live rounds of Cartridges and Twenty-Seven (27) expended Redstar, contrary to Section 26 (1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition Act) 2022 and punishable under Section 26 (3) (a) and (b) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition Act) 2022.
COUNT THREE
THAT YOU Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, and Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, sometime in December, 2025, at Geeze Phase II Area, Birnin Kebbi LGA, Kebbi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without a license, did have in your possession a Sturm Magnum 17 – 0101 firearm and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 3 of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) (a) (i) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
COUNT FOUR
THAT YOU, Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, and Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, sometime in December, 2025, at Geeze Phase II Area, Birnin Kebbi LGA, Kebbi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without a license, did have in your possession Sixteen (16) Redstar AAA 5’20 live rounds of Cartridges and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 (1) (b) (ii) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) (a) (i) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
COUNT FIVE
THAT YOU, Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, and Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, Adult, Male, sometime in December, 2025, at Geeze Phase II Area, Birnin Kebbi LGA, Kebbi State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without a license, did have in your possession Twenty-Seven (27) expended Redstar AAA 5’20 live rounds of Cartridges and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 (1) (b) (ii) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) (a) (i) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The Gwer West Local Government Council, in collaboration with the Tyoshin Traditional Council, has taken drastic measures to curb the rising tide of youth violence in the area, following the brutal murder of Local Government Youth Leader, Mr. Peter Iorkohol, and Mr. Tarbo Samson.
Our Correspondent Francis Terlumum tha the council took some far reaching decisions that All youth-related activities are suspended indefinitely.
Youth leaders at all levels are relieved of their duties with immediate effect, Security agencies are urged to intensify investigations and prosecute perpetrators, Parents and guardians are warned to take responsibility for their children’s action, Any individual found culpable will face strict sanctions, including expulsion from the community
The councils expressed grave concern over cultism and related violent offenses, which threaten peace and community cohesion. They vowed to take firm action to restore order and stability in the local government
Gwer West local government is one of the local councils in state that is worse hits by armed Fulani herders attacks for over 15 years leaving many residents in IDP camps.
In an interview with the Traditional ruler of the local government Chief Daniel Abomtse the local government has started witnessing relative peace following the efforts of Governor Hyacinth Alia and president Ahmad Tinibu efforts in bringing peace.
He was however worried while the Youths will chose the path of criminality when their communities are ran Sacked by Terrorist herders and call for a change of actutude.
Meanwhile normacy has returned to the area and business and human activities have resumed.
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