Activist Aisha Yesufu has dismissed the allegation that the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) movement which she co-convened was being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

A US Congressman, Scott Perry, had alleged that funds from USAID were diverted annually to Boko Haram which kidnapped over 200 girls from Chibok, Borno State, leading to the Bring Back Our Girls campaign.

Reacting, journalist David Hundeyin said the movement received funds from USAID to “bring down former Goodluck Jonathan’s administration” as their campaign painted his administration in bad light.

Addressing the allegation, Yesufu told Arise News that the movement was that of concerned citizens who were outraged by the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok.

“The Bring Back Our Girls movement is not an NGO, neither is it a civil society organization. It is a movement of people who got tired and were angry that girls that were going to school were taken away,” Yesufu stated.

She also denied the claim that the movement received funds, pointing out that it was self-funded.

“The BBOG has never ever received anything from anyone. We, the members, decided that we were going to self-fund it. We put our empathy on the line, we put our humanity in, whatever we need, we use our own money to do it. If you are not a member, nobody collects anything from you. All these allegations of us being paid or sponsored have been going on for 11 years. We don’t have bank accounts, we are not registered, so in what way could we be doing business with USAID?” she asked.

Yesufu also criticised Nigerians who have shown a lack of empathy for the abducted girls and those who have sought to politicise the movement. She pointed out that at the time of the Chibok abduction, Borno State was under a state of emergency, meaning the military had significant control over security matters.

“When we were making demands for the Chibok girls, which we are still doing for the rest that are still not back home, we were not doing them a favor. It is not a privilege. It is their right as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria failed them by allowing them to be abducted and the next thing was to bring them back immediately, which they didn’t do,” she said.

She described former President Goodluck Jonathan as "clueless and incompetent," adding that the movement was not formed to remove him from office.

“People say it was political, saying it was done to remove the then-president Jonathan. Really? People died, and Jonathan was busy doing his shenanigans. PDP served for 60 years. They left children to die. There is nothing that connects USAID and BBOG. The movement had nothing to do with Jonathan. But I, Aisha Yesufu, wanted Jonathan to be removed because he was clueless, incompetent, he had failed, there was so much corruption, Nigeria was borrowing money to pay salaries, we were going through so much, and I worked towards it, and I do not owe anybody an apology,” she asserted.

ASA