Leader of the Catholic church, Pope Francis 1 has said the 21 released Chibok girls need psychological evaluation conducted by experts. The Pope said this when he was represented by the President of Pontifical Mission Societies (Nigeria), Rev. Fr. George Ajana, during this year’s World Mission Sunday at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral, Area 3, Abuja.

The Pope stated, “The release of the 21 Chibok girls is victory, it is a very good sign and we are thanking God for it that some of the Chibok girls were released. Nigerians have been celebrating all this while, the church joins them in the celebration and we are one with them. So, we first of all thank God that a few of them, just 21 were released.

“The Chibok girls need medical assistance; the government is doing that already. They have been taken to hospital. I think they will need psychological rehabilitation. The government need to bring in experts to stabilise them because they must have gone through a lot of trauma.

“Now, coming back, I don’t think they will be their normal selves any longer. So, the Chibok girls need to be psychologically brought back to their real life. And we need to pray for them; the church will be very happy to do that.

“We keep praying for the release of the rest because they are human beings to be respected. The life of one person is as important as the lives of the whole nation, which must be respected.”