Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, played host to Rebecca Kabu, one of the young school girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in Chibok years ago.
Rebecca was recently rescued after nine years away from her parents.
Recall that no fewer than 276 teenage girls were abducted on the night of 14 April 2014, when members of the Islamic jihadist terrorist group Boko Haram attacked the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.
OsunDailyNG reports that while some of the girls have been married off by the terrorists, some were subsequently rescued.
However, the wife of the Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, on Friday hosted Rebecca at the Presidential Villa in Abuja along with the wife of the Vice President, Nana Shettima.
Expressing her emotions, Tinubu promised to ensure that the former schoolgirl is well taken care of medically and fit to return to school willingly.
She assured that the remaining girls in captivity were not forgotten and appreciated the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and others involved in Rebecca’s rescue.
A statement released from the office of the First Lady reads: “The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu CON on Friday at the presidential villa, Abuja, received Rebecca Kabu, one of the 277 Chibok schoolgirls who were abducted by Boko Haram in 2014.
“The First Lady who received Rebecca along with the Wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, promised to ensure that Rebecca is well taken care of medically and fit to return to school willingly.
“Senator OluRemi Tinubu, while assuring that the remaining girls in captivity are not forgotten, appreciated the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and other security agencies and those who were involved in Rebecca’s rescue.
“Our dear daughter, Rebecca, I welcome you, I’ve been praying for you all night; it is well with you; what has happened to her is much trauma; words are inadequate for me to describe it.
“Cases of amnesia should be treated; it is difficult to get by, but since you are still here, God has plans for you. I thank the office of the NSA and NIA for not relenting and everyone that is assisting in her rehabilitation.
“Rebecca will be our first comeback story and returnee; she is our first fruit; she is a case I am quite interested in to see that she can go back to school at her own pace.’’
The First Lady further assured that her NGO, Renewed Hope Initiative, is strongly working on how mature girls who are forced out of school can return to school for quality education.
She promised that Rebecca would be one of the first recipients of her benevolence. According to her, “The younger ones, if well educated, would be able to fit into the society and inherit the good legacies the older ones are leaving behind.
“Earlier, I talked to the NSA representative about cases of alternative high schools where girls like Rebecca can go back and learn at their pace because education is important for her and others.
“They need education as a tool for the marketplace, to be able to understand and manage the inheritance and legacies that shall be handed to them.
“We pray and continue to pray that all our children that are still with Boko Haram will come back home; we are waiting in earnest; we have not given up hope, I am sure that by the time she is reunited with her parents, she will be glad.
“With the governor waiting for her, she is in good hands,’’ the first lady said.
Responding, Rebecca reportedly told the First Lady that she could barely understand the English Language. However, Tinubu condoled her, saying that she would overcome it.
In his remark earlier, the Coordinator Counter Terrorism Centre, NSA, Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa, said Rebecca, kidnapped at age 13 in 2014 and now 22 years old, was rescued by the government security agencies on July 17.
He said the returnee had been certified medically and mentally fit to be reunited with her parents in Zana village in Borno state.
He said subsequently, the NSA office would follow up and present her case alongside the 15 other rehabilitated girls that were also rescued for Federal Government education support.
“I’m here to present to you one of those our young ones that were kidnapped in 2014; we are lucky to have one of them back in our midst. Rebecca was kidnapped and abducted from her school in Chibok in 2014 by the late Shekarau-led Boko Haram.
“She was rescued and repatriated from Cameroon on July 17, and has completed intensive medical screening and physiological evaluation over the past two weeks by a team of medical and psychological experts between the office of NSA and the National Intelligent Agency.
“Rebecca has been found to be in good health and is psychologically stable; the next step is to hand her over to the Borno state Governor for onward reuniting with her family in Zana,” Musa said while presenting the young lady to Tinubu.
