Response to Statement by Dr. Doyin Okupe on the #BringBackOurGirls 6 Weeks Countdown on Rescue of Chibok Girls

Our attention has been drawn to the statement credited to Dr. Doyin Okupe deriding our 6-weeks countdown to the possible rescue of the Chibok girls.
For the avoidance of doubt, our 6 weeks countdown ties directly with the 6-weeks timeline issued by the National Security Adviser to curtail and deal aggressively with Boko Haram Terrorist in Northern Nigeria. Furthermore, President Jonathan in responding to questions on the Chibok girls during the presidential media chat, which held on February 11, 2015. Said “I believe that the story of the Chibok girls will be better now that we are working with Niger, Cameroon and Chad.” The President also went further to say “I am more hopeful than before that the girls will be rescued. Nigerians should just give us a few weeks. We are working with our neighbours and we will comb the whole of that area. Just give us some time.”

As a movement, we consider the launch of the 6-weeks offensive against Boko Haram as the most significant and tangible action so far taken since the abduction of the Chibok girls.
We however remind the general public that it wasn’t the BBOG movement that erroneously announced the rescue of chibok girls twice and also a cease fire with a faceless group that didn’t last 24 hours. We implore Government to understand and fully grasp that in the 21st century, the role of the citizens is to hold Government accountable to its words, promises and action and it’s the Government role to ensure it feeds its citizens with regular, up-to-date, genuine and true information on issues of national importance, especially where the lives of its citizens are at stake.
We continue to salute the courage of our men and women in uniform at the front lines of the battle to bring an end to this insurgency and we remain positive and hopeful that the insurgency will come to an end within 6 weeks and our girls rescued.
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Rotimi Olawale
Media Spokesperson
#BringBackOurGirls Campaign