Buhari: I Will rescue Chibok girls

President Muhammadu Buhari says his government will do all within its powers in making the best efforts to free the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls from the captivity of the Boko Haram sect. The president was speaking at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday while receiving him the Women In Politics Forum (WIPF). The girls were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014. President Buhari had Wednesday during the presidential media chat said there was no credible intelligence report on the whereabouts and the condition of the missing girls. But the president assured Friday that the fight for the return of the abducted schoolgirls was ongoing and "continues to be a most worrying issue" to his administration. Buhari also disclosed that a committee to rehabilitate the infrastructure in the northeast and resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) would soon be formally inaugurated. The president said the committee, to be headed by former Defence Minister General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), would also include Aliko Dangote, sayinglocal and foreign assistance received will be channelled through the committee. Buhari said he had compiled a list of damaged infrastructure including schools and bridges and handed them to the leaders of the G7 countries and the United States. "I didn't ask for a kobo (in cash). It is up to them to choose what they will undertake. Already, some of them have sent teams to verify our assertions", he said. The president lamented the effects of the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group on women and children who he described as the worst-hit victims of the insurgency. "In the north-east, what I saw for myself and on those clips is a source of concern for people with conscience. They (victims) are mostly women and children who are orphaned. Some of them don't even know where they come from. This is the pathetic situation in which the country has found itself", he said. While acknowledging the case made by the WIPF for a better representation of women in his government, Buhari assured that women would "fare well" in the composition of federal parastatals and their boards in the first quarter of this year. On the allegation of slowness against his administration, President Buhari maintained that steps must taken with caution in order to avoid mistakes. "People say we are slow. We are trying to change the structures put in place by our predecessors in office for 16 years. If we hurry it, we will make mistakes. That will be a disaster", he said. The president described the 2016 budget proposal as good for employment and manufacturing, saying "By the end of the second quarter, the full impact of these positive measures will be felt". Earlier, the WIPF, comprising women leaders from 26 registered political parties and led by Ebere Ifendu of the Labour Party, had declared support for the federal government's war against corruption and insecurity. The forum, which sought laws that would promote gender equity, also urged action on the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the WIPF made the record of being the first organisation to be received by Buhari in the new year.