- Title: NIGERIA: Government supporters disrupt rally for Nigeria's abducted schoolgirls
- Date: 28th May 2014
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (MAY 28, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS ARRIVING AT VENUE CHANTING/DANCING VARIOUS OF SECURITY PROTECTING THE "BRING BACK OUR CHIBOK GIRLS" PROTESTERS PROTESTER ADDRESSING RALLY USING MEGAPHONE ''BRING BACK OUR CHIBOK GIRLS'' PROTESTERS CHANTING (English): "BRING BACK OUR GIRLS NOW AND ALIVE!'' BANNER READING (English): "#BRING BACK OUR GIRLS" (SOUNDBITE) (English ) LEADER, BRING BACK OUR CHIBOK GIRLS PROTEST, OBY EZEKWESILI, SAYING: ''Yesterday, there were more than thirty busloads of people brought from hinterlands. The poor are being savaged in this manner. There is not much to say. We are resolved, we are going to keep standing until we compel the necessary action that would lead to the recovery, the rescue of the Chibok girls. They must be brought back alive. Bring back our girls now and alive.'' SECURITY VEHICLE VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS LAYING AT FOOD TO SELL (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, ADVOCACY AND MOBILISATION RESOURCE CENTRE, OLUWOLE MONEYIN, SAYING: ''People have to find a means of constantly keeping themselves awake. Vigilance is the eternal price of liberty. If they dance around this square, I think they are trying to keep their spirits up and alive. But honestly if there are people who can pay people or people who can come from their offices with RAV4, Pathfinder and be earning minimum wage as we are finding, then I think people who have to sell tomatoes to feed family at the same time be here to express their confidence that this Nigeria must be kept together, also have a right to choose wherever means they can send their message.'' VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS CHANTING/CARRYING A BANNER READING (English): "#BOKO HARAM RELEASE OUR GIRLS NOW" (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHAIRMAN, EDITORIAL BOARD, THE NEW TELEGRAPH, USMAN SHEHU, SAYING: ''There had been a staged managed protest to his office, so he needed to say something, he needed to make the crowd feel good irrespective of the fact that it showed his incompetence as a Chief of Defence Staff. How do you talk about something as sensitive as that publicly? Doesn't he know that Boko Haram people also have their intelligence sourcing, and that if truly they know where these people are, that could tip them off. So that even shows his incompetence and I'm not surprised the Pentagon said they are not aware.'' VARIOUS OF BANNERS READING (English): "#BRING BACK OUR GIRLS, HAUWA? ISUNA? HANATU NAHU? LARABA MAMAN? MONICA ENOCH? ''
- Embargoed: 12th June 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Crime,Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4W79CX8TU8KPIETH23L8KLVE6
- Story Text: Hundreds of government supporters on Wednesday (May 28) stormed the venue of a rally where demonstrators had gathered to demand the release of over 200 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls.
The demonstrators said the group had been sponsored by the Nigerian government and was made up mostly of women from rural areas.
Their aim was to disrupt the rally, demonstrators said.
''Yesterday, there were more than thirty busloads of people brought from hinterlands. The poor are being savaged in this manner. There is not much to say. We are resolved, we are going to keep standing until we compel the necessary action that would lead to the recovery, the rescue of the Chibok girls. They must be brought back alive. Bring back our girls now and alive,'' said the leader of the "Bring Back Our Chibok Girls" rally, Oby Ezekwesili.
The government supporters arrived at the venue with food items and laid them out on the ground to sell, while at the same time insisting they were agitating for the release or the abducted girls.
The director of the Advocacy and Mobilisation Resource Centre, Oluwole Moneyin, said Nigeria's poor had to do whatever they could to survive.
''People have to find a means of constantly keeping themselves awake. Vigilance is the eternal price of liberty. If they dance around this square, I think they are trying to keep their spirits up and alive. But honestly if there are people who can pay people or people who can come from their offices with RAV4, Pathfinder and be earning minimum wage as we are finding, then I think people who have to sell tomatoes to feed family at the same time be here to express their confidence that this Nigeria must be kept together, also have a right to choose wherever means they can send their message,'' he said.
Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh said on Tuesday (May 27) the military knew where the abducted girls were but ruled out a rescue by force for fear of endangering them.
But the United States said it had no information to support Nigeria's claim, and European officials also voiced scepticism about the statement.
Journalist Usman Shehu said he had no confidence in the Air Marshal's statement.
''There had been a staged managed protest to his office, so he needed to say something, he needed to make the crowd feel good irrespective of the fact that it showed his incompetence as a Chief of Defence Staff. How do you talk about something as sensitive as that publicly? Doesn't he know that Boko Haram people also have their intelligence sourcing, and that if truly they know where these people are, that could tip them off. So that even shows his incompetence and I'm not surprised the Pentagon said they are not aware,'' he said.
Four more of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month have escaped than previously thought, Nigeria's Borno state said on Wednesday, but 219 others were still missing and assumed held by the Islamist militants.
The girls were taking exams at a secondary school in the remote northeastern village of Chibok on April 14 when the Islamist gunmen surrounded it, loaded 276 of them onto trucks and carted them off, according to official figures. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
