The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, yesterday, gave reasons why men of the Nigeria Police Force barred members of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigners from gaining access to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The BBOG protest train had recently attempted to enter the Presidential Villa to press the Federal Government to negotiate with the Islamic Boko Haram insurgents for the release of the over 200 Chibok girls who were abducted from their school dormitory in April 2014 in Borno State.
Idris spoke yesterday at an event jointly organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the National Technical Committee on the Establishment and Management of Database of missing persons in Nigeria to mark the International Day of Missing Persons in Abuja.
The IGP represented by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Labo, said the Chibok girls’ protesters were stopped from having access in order to forestall a security breach in the villa.
Fielding questions from a member of the group whose daughter is being held by the insurgents, the IGP explained that every Nigerian has the right to see the President but added that it would be proper if a delegation of the BBOG leadership was sent to see President Buhari rather than a large number of the protesters.
