Questions are being raised about the authenticity of the rescue mission which the military carried out leading to the rescue of yet another abducted Chibok girl identified as Serah Luka.
According to Yakubu Nkeki, the head of the Chibok Abducted Girls Parents group, the first girl who was rescued, Amina Ali was identified by him as the military had contacted him before making an official statement but he queried the authenticity of Serah who he claims does not match any record on the missing girls list.
Yakubu Nkeki while speaking to AFP with respect to Amina’s rescue said: “We were able to identify her and then establish her parents,” he however pointed that there was no call placed to him for confirmation before the second rescued schoolgirl’s announcement was made.
According to Yakubu, he said the records on ground only showed two girls by the surname Luka and none of them matched the newly rescued girl’s identity.
He said the two girls on the list “are Kauna Luka Yana and Naomi Luka Dzakwa. Among the list of parents we have only four priests and none of them is Luka,”
“Among the girls none of them is from Madagali. They were either from Chibok, Damboa, Askira and Uba (all in Borno state). So I can say… that this girl is not among the abducted Chibok girls.
“We were never contacted by the military for verification of the girl’s identity before the announcement was made.”
However contrary to Yakubu’s claims, a senior Nigerian military source said the rescued girl was “beyond reasonable doubt” among the 219 held by the Islamist-Jihadist sect since the kidnapping on April 14, 2014.
He added: “The military personnel who carried out the rescue operation and the civilian vigilantes who assisted them and those who know the girl confirmed that she is among those abducted,
“We can only change our position if the principal of the school or the government of Borno state come out and refute this established identity of the girl.”