Nigerian international and Chelsea Football Club of London midfielder, Mikel Obi, has joined those mounting pressure on the Federal Government to ensure the safe return of the 276 abducted pupils of the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State.
A photograph posted on the official Twitter account of Chelsea FC showed Mikel dressed in a suit, carrying a banner with the globally trending hashtag inscription, #BringBackourGirls.
The club, in a tweet accompanying the picture, said the player supported all efforts aimed at ensuring the prompt and safe release of the pupils.
“Nigerian international John Mikel Obi has lent his support to the bring back our girls campaign,” the club stated.
Mikel’s show of support to the campaign came amid disappointment by many Nigerians over the Federal Government’s inability to rescue the girls, 30 days after their abduction by members of the Boko Haram.
Prominent social commentators, who flayed the development on Wednesday, said they could not imagine what the girls were going through in the hands of the insurgents.
“One month today; one month. Mr. President, my sisters from Chibok are still with their abductors. What is going on?” a lawyer and public affairs commentator, Chude Jideonwo queried on Twitter. He added, “I have no business with Boko Haram. We have business with the elected President of Nigeria. We employed him to keep us safe.”
The Lagos-based attorney, who said he was hopeful that the girls would return alive, added that God and not the military would free the girls.
According to him, since the violent Islamic sect released the purported video showing some of the girls in its enclave, the government has not done any concrete thing to give the victims’ parents and other concerned individuals some ray of hope.
“Where is the information centre the information minister promised? Where is anything to give us hope since the purported video of girls?
“May God give our President the strength of character and wisdom to lead our forces into victory in finding these girls? So that we can extend focus to the other urgent issue of ending terrorism across the land – from the Niger Delta to the North,” Jideonwo added.
A female crusader for the abducted pupils, Aisha Jana, in a post on Twitter asked, “Are we asking for too much? All we are saying is that government should bring back our girls.”
An online campaigner, Bukola Ogunyemi, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to mobilise more resources for the girls’ rescue.
He argued that the continued cohabitation of the girls with the terrorists might have a devastating effect on the psyche of the pupils.
“I can’t imagine the anguish that the parents of the Chibok schoolgirls have been through since this ordeal started. It is a month now since our girls have been forced to cohabit with criminals; their lives perhaps forever altered.
“Whatever his reservations about the abduction, Jonathan has to step up as C-in-C and mobilise resources to bring back our girls. Western education is not Haram, Islam is not against it. Shekau and his gang of murderers are not Muslims,” Ogunyemi noted on Twitter.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation has also expressed concern over the negative effect of the pupils’ abduction on the girl-child education in northern Nigeria.
Calling for greater cooperation and coordination among countries, UNESCO pledged to assist the Nigerian government in bringing back the girls.
“Education is a human right. No belief can justify the abduction of over 270 Nigerian schoolgirls. UNESCO is determined to support the Nigerian government to bring back our girls,” a message on its Twitter page read.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, has risen in support of members of the armed forces battling to contain the Boko Haram menace, arguing that they are up to the task of bringing terrorists to justice.
“Terrorists do anything to court attention. Our soldiers will do everything to bring them to justice. It is only a matter of time. We have refused to relent. We are building an international coalition to bring back our girls and end Boko Haram,” Obanikoro argued on Twitter.
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