When on April 14, 2019 news filtered out that girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok were kidnapped by terrorist group Boko Haram, it didn’t quite make complete sense. Up till then incidence of mass kidnapping in a secondary school had not occurred. Yes, people were being abducted but not in that scale of over 200 persons. The questions were many when it eventually became a reality. For example, where will the insurgents keep such number of girls, how were they transported and above all, when will they be released?
To be clear, we are not sure any Nigerian ever thought that the kidnap saga will last up to five months, much less five years. The whole saga has proven just how mean and deadly the insurgency we initially took for granted is. Indeed, for holding on to the girls till date (although over 100 of them have been released) tells us that Boko Haram has not been properly profiled. As a country it appears we still miss their point and their mission if not their capacity. While we do not and cannot venerate them, however, in every war, it is important you understand the prowess of your opponent. In Nigeria today, there are still people who think Boko Haram is a joke. We are sorry, they are not. We are dealing with a vicious group of vile men who are determined to undermine the integrity of the country.
This week, the fifth anniversary of one of the darkest incidents in Nigeria’s recent past, the mass abduction of about 276 female students from Chibok school, in Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency. That night of April 14, 2014, Boko Haram terrorists struck in Chibok and took away teenage girls within the 16-18 age bracket who were in the dormitory preparing to write their final examinations. It was a dastardly act that put Nigeria in the world map for the wrong reason, for never had it been reported that such mass kidnapping occurred in one fell swoop. It was an event that caught the then Jonathan administration unawares, threw it into confusion.
The initial lethargic response to the incident left much to be desired. Government first doubted the event, then considered it a gang-up against the then administration, and by the time it woke to the reality and enormity of what had taken place, the insurgents had taken their captives far into the Sambisa Forest (or wherever), its operational headquarters. That initial dilly dallying was a mortal mistake on the part of the government of the day from which it never recovered. Of course, the kidnapping threw up a lot of conspiracy theories and finger pointing.
How the government with all its intelligence capabilities dithered on this matter rankles; because hitherto the same group had attacked a school in Yobe state where they slaughtered 59 schoolboys. And what of the Amnesty International report that the Nigerian Army at the time had four-hour advance intelligence about the impending attack but failed to act?
Well, the deed has been done. It is five years now and the story is still painful. Government has tried different approaches, including probably paying ransom for the release of over 100girls of the school, yet another over 100 girls are still with the killers. We need help from the international community to put this matter to sleep once and for all. Nigeria needs help both men and material to secure the release of the remaining girls in any way possible. We have had enough!
We salute efforts of all manner of organisations and indeed our military and other assistance from various countries so far. We equally note the advocacy of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG group, led by former minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili. Though we salute the present government for their efforts so far; however, as one of the campaign promises of the present administration until all the girls are freed, it will seem they have not done enough. Therefore, we call for a more radical, holistic approach to ending the trauma of family and friends.
Of the total number of schoolgirls stolen from Chibok in that attack, 57 of the girls managed to escape their captors, four were found under different circumstances, 103 were freed through the efforts of the Buhari administration, while 112 are still missing, a few of them presumably dead, according to the report of one of the freed girls.
It has become necessary for the Buhari administration to dispassionately examine this whole Boko Haram insurgency and seek cooperation in a radical manner to end this insurgency. By now we should have taken out their known leaders. We can’t continue to prevaricate over this matter anymore.
