DSS Labels BringBackOurGirls Group ‘Franchise’

The Department of State Security (DSS), yesterday, lambasted the BringBackOurGirls group, saying the group is becoming a security threat.

The spokesperson of DSS, Marilyn Ogar, who stated this while fielding questions from journalists during a briefing at the National Information Centre in Abuja, said that the group had become a franchise.

Ogar alleged that the group is planning a sponsored protest in the nation’s capital with the help of foreign media, adding that they are aware that the group is soliciting fund from notable individuals.

She alleged that members of the group had perfected plans with the help of experts flown into the country to tackle security operatives who might rise to be a stumbling block in their way.

“I think you are right to refer to the protesting group of BringBackOurGirls as a franchise; I remember when we started the fight against insurgency; we said it severally that the group is more or less a franchise; anybody can rise anywhere.

“As a tenant, if you don’t have money to pay, you may become a sect member, Boko Haram or you could also become a franchise and security forces know exactly what they are up to”, she said.

According to her, if it was an ordinary movement seeking to put more pressure on government and security operatives to release the girls, there would have been no need for the group to have a tag, insisting that their members must have a tag and be properly registered.

“We know that they have a bank account; we also know that they want to go to Asokoro Extension and simulate a protest march, where they will have foreign media and say that they are marching into Sambisa and Chibok.

“We also know that they brought in some experts from outside, to come and teach them how to beat security operatives when they are demonstrating; we are waiting to see whether those things will work.

“We also know that they have divided themselves into groups, giving each other specific assignments; if you are a genuine movement, when the late Funmi Ransome-Kuti started the struggle on the empowerment of the Nigerian women, I am not sure she was paying courtesy calls on money bags to solicit support; if she had to do that, I am not sure Oba Ademola II would have been dethroned in 1949 when he was asking women to pay taxes”, Ogar said.

She continued, “When there is a genuine struggle, it must be done transparently; there will be no need of asking people to register, so that you know who is a member or who is not and to pay monthly dues”.

Reacting in an interview on Channels Television monitored in Abuja yesterday, the convener of the BBOG group, Dr Oby Ezekwesili denied Ogar’s allegations, adding that the group will reply her at the appropriate time.