Spokesperson for the Department of State Security Services (DSS) Marilyn Ogar accused the BringBackOurGirls campaigners of turning the issue into a franchise.
“Bring Back Our Girls Movement has become a franchise and security forces know what they are up to. If it is an ordinary movement seeking to pile pressure on government or security agencies to release these girls, there will be no need for the group to begin to have tags, insisting that you must have a tag and be properly registered (to be part of them).
Ogar made this known at during a regular briefing by the National Information Centre (NIC) in Abuja on Wednesday, July 9, 2014 on efforts to fight terror in the country and find the over 200 Chibok secondary school girls abducted since April 14, 2014.
“Security forces also know that they have bank accounts; we also know that they want to go to Asokoro Extension and simulate some false movements where they will have some foreign media to say that they are marching inside Sambisa and Chibok; They want to simulate a protest march inside Asokoro Extension in Abuja and claim that they were doing so inside Sambisa Forest to be reported in some foreign media; we also know that they brought in some experts from outside the country to come and teach them on how to beat security onslaught when they are demonstrating; to withstand police teargas and security operations. We are waiting to see when these things would work. We also know that they are dividing themselves into groups and zones giving each other specific assignments.
“They were also paying courtesy calls to money bags to solicit support. If it’s a genuine struggle, then it must be done transparently. There will be no need for you to ask people to register to know who is a member or who is not. It is getting very ridiculous but we are still watching and hope that genuinely, there is no need to hire people to come and claim that they have children among the girls that were abducted. So now we now that it has become a franchise and we know.
“I also want to ask that if it is not a franchise, why would those involved in the movement decide to carry out smear campaign against certain government officials. If we have to fight for our rights, let us genuinely fight for our rights by being more transparent. We also know that they run bank accounts; that they visit prominent people to solicit for funds; funds for what?”, an angry Ogar retorted.
