One of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram at a Government Secondary School in Chibok in 2014 has been reunited with her family after returning home seven years after.
Ruth Ngladar Pogu was received by Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, on Saturday, August 7 in Maiduguri, the state capital, and formally handed over to her parents.
It would be recalled that Boko Haram members attacked the school towards midnight on April 14, 2014, and abducted the students.
Ruth was forcefully married to an insurgent, like many of her mates captured at the time.
A statement released from the Borno governor’s office said Ruth and her husband surrendered themselves to the Nigerian military on July 28, 2021, at a location in Bama.
Under Governor Zulum’s supervision, security and government officials kept the development secret and used the last 10 days to contact her parents and the association of parents of the missing schoolgirls in order to ascertain her identity.
The spokesperson of the governor, Malam Isa Gusau, said the governor received the Chibok girl at the Government House in the presence of her overwhelmed parents who reunited with her.
An excited Governor Zulum said reuniting with Ruth was a boost to keeping the hopes of parents, other family members and the Borno State government alive in the optimism that all others, still in captivity, will be safely found and in good health.
Governor Zulum said the government, in collaboration with Ruth and her parents, will undertake a rehabilitation and reintegration programme that will focus on her health, psychosocial wellbeing, and her chosen path to a productive future, all of which will be determined by her.
“I am extremely excited both as Borno’s Governor and father of all sons and daughters of the state and also as a father to daughters. I know the feeling of families of those still under captivity but we have to remain hopeful especially with today’s development”, the governor said.
Chairman of the Chibok Girls Movement, an association of all affected parents, Yakubu Keki, expressed joy over the return of Ruth Nglari Apagu. He said, the people of Chibok appreciate the efforts of security establishments and the concern and support regularly shown by Governor Zulum on the plight of parents whose daughters are still missing.
Credit: Kaduna State Govt.
