CHIBOK: I Wish I Had Bought A Phone For My Daughter – Devastated father cries out

A devastated father of a kidnapped GGSS Chibok student, Lawan Zanna, blamed himself for note purchasing a mobile phone for his daughter.

Zanna, whose Muslim daughter Aisha has been identified in the latest Boko Haram video, shared his views and feelings with Daily Trust reporter in Chibok.

Lawan Zanna standing at the scene of abduction in Chibok. Photo Credit: Daily Trust

Up to 53 girls were able to escape during Boko Haram operation in the school in the late hours of April 14, 2014. Some of them managed to escape, and then used their cell phone to call parents, who advised them to jump off Boko Haram’s trucks, and then picked their daughters up.

Unfortunately, Zanna’s daughter had no opportunity to do that.

    “If I had known, I would have bought a phone for her like other parents,” the father said.

He further explained that his daughter was not allowed to have her personal device in order not to get distracted. Zanna and his wife Talatu were hoping that Aisha would become a successful medical doctor one day. 

Zanna’s 1.5-year-old daughter, who surely cannot understand the pain their parents are currently going through, would have been happy to meet Aisha at their home.

Five weeks after the mass abduction many parents, including Zanna, still come to the destroyed school, where the girls used to study and to stay. Even some of the girls’ clothes, including school uniforms and some personal wears can be found at a guard’s room. Boko Haram fighters did not allow the girls to take anything with them.

The father of the kidnapped girl was among those parents who organised the search for their daughters in the next few days after the abduction, went as far as entrance to notorious Sambisa Forest. However, they had to call off their operation, as they had not received any significant support neither from police force, nor from the army.

The parents admitted that the crisis has to be left to God.