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Tag: boko haram

  • Villagers ‘kill 200’ Boko Haram members in Borno

    Residents of three villages in Borno State have repelled an attack by suspected Boko Haram fighters, an eyewitness told the BBC.

    Report said at least 200 militants were killed during the fighting in the Kala-Balge district of the state, he said.

    The witness said the residents had formed a vigilante group.

    The area which came under attack is not far from the site of a market massacre last week in which more than 300 people were killed.

    The suspected Boko Haram militants overran the town of Gamboru Ngala 10 days ago on its busy market day in a killing and looting raid which lasted about five hours.

    A security official told the Associated Press news agency that the vigilantes in Kala-Balge, which is near Lake Chad, were ready for a fight after learning of an impending Boko Haram attack on Tuesday.

    The eyewitness, who spoke to the BBC Hausa Service on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the area was littered with bodies after the fighting.
    He had seen 50 bodies in one village and 150 in another village, all of which he thought were the corpses of militants.

    Residents also seized three cars and a military vehicle from the attackers, he said.

  • FG ready for talk with Boko Haram

    FG ready for talk with Boko Haram

    The Federal Government on Tuesday signalled willingness to negotiate with the Boko Haram sect holding more than 200 schoolgirls, a month after the kidnapping that has provoked global outrage.

    “The window of negotiation is still open,” the Minister of Special Duties, Tanimu Turaki, told Reuters by telephone.

    He spoke a day after Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, posted a video offering to release the girls in exchange for prisoners held by the government.

    Senior officials say the government is exploring options and has made no commitment to negotiations for the release of the girls, and Turaki declined to comment on possible talks over the kidnapping itself. Instead, he referred to an amnesty committee that he heads, set up by President Goodluck Jonathan last year to talk to the Boko Haram militants behind a five-year-old insurgency.

    The committee’s initial six-month mandate expired without holding direct talks with the rebels, though it has spoken to them through proxies.

    It has since been replaced by a standing committee empowered to conduct talks, officials said. Boko Haram has killed thousands of people since 2009 and destabilised parts of northeast Nigeria.

    The abductions have triggered a worldwide social media campaign under the Twitter hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, and prompted the United States, Britain, France and Israel to offer help or send experts to Nigeria.

     

  • NBA, Sagay back extension of emergency rule

    NBA, Sagay back extension of emergency rule

    Some prominent lawyers in Lagos on Wednesday backed the extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.

    The lawyers, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the state of emergency should be retained to enable the government restore peace to the areas.

    It will be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan on May 14, 2013, imposed the emergency rule on the three states experiencing the activities of insurgents.

    Jonathan on Tuesday sent a request to the National Assembly seeking approval for an extension of the state of emergency.

    A constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), told NAN that the Nigerian military had not achieved much with the previous powers granted them to tackle the insurrection.

    Sagay said the recent abduction of some students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno, was an indictment on the military.

    He, however, urged the National Assembly to grant Jonathan’s request, adding that the military should be given another opportunity to deal with the situation.

    Sagay also advised the president not to remove the state governors of the troubled states, as being suggested by some persons.

    “People talking like that are ignorant and they thrive in gross unconstitutional acts.

    “No power exists in the Nigerian Constitution for removal of governors because of the declaration of state of emergency,’’ he said.

    Also speaking, Mr Yinka Farounbi, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, called for a collaborative effort in addressing the security challenges in the states.

    “The state of emergency should be extended but the Federal Government must work hand-in-hand with the various state governments to make sure the campaign against Boko Haram is sustained.

    “As a start, the Federal Government should provide military protection for all schools, markets and other public infrastructure in those areas,’’ Farounbi said.

    Another lawyer, Mr Wale Ogunade, said the state of emergency should continue till the situation is brought under control.

    Ogunade also advised Nigerian politicians to stop playing politics with the security challenges and work together toward bringing stability to the areas. (NAN)

  • Lawyers to Fed. Govt: explore negotiation option

    Lawyers to Fed. Govt: explore negotiation option

    Some senior lawyers urged the Federal Government to explore the negotiation option in the bid rescue the abducted school girls.

    They said if it means trading detained Boko Haram members for the girls, the government must do all in its power to free the girls.

    According to them, the victims are too young to be left for too long in the hands of the terrorists.

    A former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) said: “My view is that the government should not close any option in the light of the people the terrorists are holding.

    “You’re talking about young schoolgirls. That in itself will inform a different consideration entirely. We should not toy with them.

    “They should consider the fact that these are young girls that are with these terrorists,” he said.

    Professor of Law, Itse Sagay (SAN) said the government has no choice but to negotiate with the terrorists, noting that the lives of the innocent girls were more valuable than those of Boko Haram suspects in prison custody.

    “Is keeping the Boko Haram detainees in prison custody more important than the lives of those innocent girls?

    “Government should negotiate with Boko Haram, if at the end of the negotiation, the way out is to surrender some of the detainees for our girls, so be it.

    “I am not saying the government should take Boko Haram’s demands for it. There should be negotiations with the group,” he said.

    Elder Paul Ananaba (SAN) said while it is no longer fashionable for government around the world to come out openly to say they are negotiating with terrorists, all options should be explored in this instance.

    “The fact that they said some parents have recognised some of the girls and they can be rescued, my advice to government is to study thoroughly the offer of the swap and weigh the possibilities. Getting the girls rescued must be the priority.

    “In essence, what I am saying is that if the best option available is to negotiate, they should weigh it carefully and come up with the best approach of going about it in the best interest of the girls, the parents and the country.

    “There are people who are specialised in negotiating with terrorists and I think we should tap from their experience in this situation.

    “If you are a parent and your girl is there, you would want to be on the side of the devil for negotiation and get your girl rescued.

    “So, if it is the most viable thing to do, they should go ahead. I would give an example in this case. They are still searching for people in the Malaysian plane that crashed weeks ago even though there is no hope.

    “So, rescuing the girls must be the primary thing to do. Any other step can follow.”

    Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) said Nigeria shoud make any sacrifice to free the girls.

    “The life of these children are more precious than that of any suspect or prisoner. It is better to release all these prisoners to their groups in exchange for these girls who have so many years to live and too young to be in that situation.

    “They should be rescued and after that government can then face them, all these criminals. Whatever sacrifice Nigeria can make to get these girls released is not too much.

    “Let these people (detained Boko Haram members) go and for the girls to be released. We can go and confront them later because we are afraid for the lives of these girls,” Fagbohungbe said.

    Some lawyers, however, hold a different view. Mallam Yusuf Ali (SAN) said: “I see the demand as a cheap blackmail. It will set a dangerous precedent to trade criminals for innocent underage secondary school children!

    “We must not sacrifice decency on the altar of expediency.”

    For Professor of law, Akin Oyebode, trading off the girls for terrorists in detention would be a sign of failure and downright helplessness by the government.

    He stated that only Prisoners of War (POW) are traded and the said exchange is usually arranged by Red Cross.

    “It is sacrilegious and a sign of weakness which should not be encouraged because it will encourage other armed groups to see mass hostage taking as an avenue to meet their demands from government.

    “It is tantamount to surrendering to evil forces. Boko Haram have no conscience and an insatiable appetite for violence. How are we sure they won’t make more far reaching demands?” He queried.

    Chairman, NBA Ikeja Branch, Mr Yinka Farounbi, said: “I am a father, so I can imagine the feelings and the pains the parents must be going through. But honestly, and this is my candid opinion, you don’t negotiate with terrorists. When you negotiate with terrorits, you are giving them more powers; you are conferring legitimacy on them. What they did to these children is criminal.

    “I am a parent and I can feel what they feel and I know that they want their children back. But when a government of a nation is negotiating with terrorists, it is a dangerous thing.

    “Other ways, other means should be deployed to get these children released from the claws of the terrorists. We have gotten assistance from USA, Britain, France, China among others.

    “It is only when these prove to be ineffective that the issue of negotiation can come and it should last option. Government should look at the other side of the coin and not engage in negotiation now. It should deploy other means,” Farounbi said.

  • Should FG swap Chibok girls for Boko Haram terrorists?

    Should FG swap Chibok girls for Boko Haram terrorists?

    Nigeria is ready to talk to Boko Haram for the release of more than 200 abducted school girls, a minister was quoted by the BBC as saying Minister of Special Duties Tanimu Turaki said if Boko Haram was sincere, its leader Abubakar Shekau should send people he trusts to meet the standing committee on reconciliation. Many Nigerians – politicians, lawyers, public affairs analysts and others – are for dialogue to free the girls – should the need arise. Some are, however, opposed to “talking with terrorists”.

    Sir Olaniwun Ajayi said:

    Afenifere chieftain and delegate to the National Conference Sir Ajayi rejected the sect’s proposal, saying that it is devoid of logic and no basis can be found for it in law and morality.

    He queried: “Which country is that practiced? People offended the state. Their ring leaders who sent them on an unlawful errand to invade a school and take the innocent girls are giving conditions. They are saying that their members in detention should be released before they release the girls. Where is that done in the world?

    “A thief invaded a house. Then, the thief is saying that, before what is stolen can be returned, you have to pay money to the thieves. No government can do that. Our government should not do that. In other countries, the sect members would have been apprehended by now”.

    Another Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said:

    “The government has done the right thing by exploring dialogue as route to the solution to the problem. But, it is legally and morally wrong to propose the release of the Boko Haram suspects in prison in exchange for the innocent girls. That is not acceptable”.

    A delegate to the National Conference, Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, said:

    “The people terrorising the country cannot give terms and their demands are irritating.”

    He stressed: ‘It is the height of ignorance. You have harmed people and you are asking that some people should be released from detention before you can release the girls. They are trying to ridicule the government and our nation. I am not happy about the whole situation. There are experts who can handle the negotiation with the sect. But, their condition is not right”.

    Former Kaduna State Governor Balarabe Musa said:

    “The Federal Government should accept  it, if it will encourage dialogue. The two sides are holding hostages,  although the Federal Government may say it is holding criminals. It may be the beginning of peaceful settlement of the problem. The Federal Government has no alternative than to dialogue. The offer should be accepted as it will give room for meaningful dialogue.”

    Former Lagos State Deputy Governor Rafiu Jafojo said:

    “It is unfortunate and uncalled for. Icannot support that. The children have nothing to do with their claims, what they want and what they are fighting for. If they want to fight the government as terrorist, they can fight the government. But, they cannot be seizing girls. Why should they go to schools to disrupt the peace of the place?

    “I don’t support the idea of unconditional release of the innocent girls. Let them release the children to their families and embrace dialogue. Why should faceless people give conditions to government?

    Lagos state House of Assembly majority leader Dr. Jibayo Adeyeye said:

    “While nothing would be too much on the side of the government to ensure that the girls are released and reunited with their families. The government should however be weary of succumbing to demand by terrorists as it would send a wrong signal in future to others who would want to blackmail the nation when it is faced with such situation in future. I think the Federal Government should follow the lead from the release video about the girls and track them down while it buys time with the exchange proposal.

    Rights activist Mike Ozekhome said:

    It was former President of America JF Kennedy, who said you should never negotiate out of fear. There are times that we have to stoop to conquer. We are talking of lives here; we are talking of little children, fairly between the ages of 10 and 16 years, taking into the wilderness by Boko.

    The parents of these little children are traumatised, they cannot sleep, and they cannot eat. They do not know the fate of their children. Shekau has said initially that he will sell the girls into slavery; he has changed his position to exchanging them for the arrested Boko Haram people. The question now is what is the way out? The Turaki Committee’s primary purpose is to see how they can negotiate, so as to end the insurgency. I therefore, do no say that the idea of negotiation with Boko Haram is so alien to the government, that it is suddenly a taboo. The government has been accused that it was playing a game of stick and carrot. We are now talking about human lives. This is one area where I throw my weight behind the government of Nigeria, to negotiate with these people to release these little innocent girls. Some of who will become ministers, governors and top government functionaries in Nigeria.

     

    Abubakar Tsav, former commissioner of police, Lagos States has mixed feelings about the matter. He is fully in support of negotiation with the insurgents “for the sake of the girls, who are innocent and should not be made to suffer for what they did not cause.” He added: “One could also consider this from the point of view of their parents who are now in trauma and do not know what next to do. So, on humanitarian grounds, yes, I am for negotiation. In the interest of peace, anything we can do to bring back these girls would be welcomed.” He said America at one point or the other exchanged prisoners with people they considered as terrorists, to effect the release of their citizens.

    But on the other hand, Tsav insists such an idea is arrant nonsense. His words: “These people have killed a lot of Nigerians; they have destabilised this country; and they have bombed churches and mosques. Seen from that perspective, it is not proper. If we do it, we would be indirectly supporting terrorism.”

    The former police commissioner said Nigeria’s problem was that when President Goodluck Jonathan was advised to negotiate with them at the outset, he refused, saying he cannot negotiate with ghosts. “Now these ghosts are disturbing the whole country. So, I think those who are advising the President are not advising him well,” he added. Besides, he said the area where the girls were abducted is under emergency rule, and that the security agencies failed in their duty to protect the citizens. Tsav wondered whether there is any sort of connivance between some of the soldiers and Boko Haram members.

    Chief Niyi Akintola said:

    “Boko Haram demand as unjustifiable, unreasonable and should be rejected by the Federal government.

    “The Federal Government should not succumb to blackmail. It should not compromise anything. Those who had committed crimes against humanity cannot dictate terms of their release from detention.  They should account for their crimes.

    “On what basis should the government negotiate with them. Their demand is totally unacceptable. The whole world is against them, everybody is angry with them. We should condemn Boko Haram’s act.

    Afenifere chieftain, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, said:

    “Even though human lives are involved, government should not negotiate with murderers.”

    Mr. Chris Uche (SAN) advised government to leave every option open. He urged the Jonathan administration to explore all options and possibilities to get the girls back to their parents.

    Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Second Republic politician said:

    “This does not necessarily mean that government should accede to all the demands of the terrorists.  I believe in the course of negotiation, a middle course may be found,” he said from his base in Kano on the telephone, adding: “It is important that the door of negotiation should not be shut.”

    Yakassai, who was special adviser to Second Republic President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly Affairs, said the Federal Government had not entirely ruled out negotiation, and that his understanding of government’s position is that it may resort to negotiation when the need arises.

    Dr. Jerry Chukwuokolo, an Enugu lawyer and rights activist said:

    “The whole idea is absurd.”

    He argued that Boko Haram insurgents cannot be compared with Niger Delta militants in anyway. He said: “We were able to negotiate with the militants because we saw them, but these insurgents who are they?

    “Secondly, what they have done to fellow Nigerians without justification is heinous; how can we be negotiating with such elements? In fact, I’m beginning to think that the whole thing is being orchestrated. These girls have been in the custody of the terrorists for only three weeks, but they can now recite lengthy passages in the Quran; majority of these girls are Christians, I don’t think it is possible.”

    Former Information Minister, Prince Tony Momoh said:

    “In my own personal opinion and as a Nigerian, I believe that the President is in a big dilemma. If he refuses to negotiate and any of the children dies, people will not forgive the President.

    “The President himself said he does not want to win an election, if the blood of one person would be shed. People will be looking at those areas, personally, I believe in communication.

    “Communication is the only way crisis can be resolved not through war.  At a particular time, in the affairs of men, if there is war, there must be talking. In this regard, my own policy at any time an issue arises or there is a disagreement, I would like to achieve peace through talking.

    “I don’t believe in war, so with that mind set and we have these kids being held by Boko Haram and they are saying the only way to release them is through negotiation, I will negotiate. To say you will not negotiate, people will put the blame on you if anything untoward happen to them.

    “So, if I was him, I will reach out behind the scene to them to have these girls brought back home. That is the main thing. If any of them dies and we look at the situation, the President will never escape an accusation of intransigence. If they are strong enough to be in possession of our 200 daughters, I will insist on negotiation. If they say release our prisoners, will they go and seek asylum outside Nigeria? If that is the condition to bring back our children, we must not be big headed to say we will not negotiate. If those children die Jonathan will never be forgiven.”

    Former President Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Olasupo Ojo said:

    “A country like America’s standing policy is that you don’t negotiate with terrorists, no matter who the President is. Nigeria has no clear policy, so, it means it is at the discretion of who is the President, to decide what happens. This is the approach that President Jonathan will follow. He is not courageous, he is not bold, he is not a firebrand, and he does not have the gut. So, you can be assured he would prefer negotiation.”

    Yobe State House of Assembly Adamu Dala Dogo, said:

    “Negotiation with Boko Haram is another solution to the release of the abducted girls.”

    “The Federal Government should negotiate with Boko Haram and bring back our girls. But the Boko Haram should also send their delegates to come and negotiate with the Federal Government because government cannot negotiate with faceless people.

    “I think negotiation is another way of solving the problem while the government is considering other options. The use of force will put the life of those girls on the line and that is the least that the parents of these girls and any other Nigerian expect.

    “The Federal Government must act responsibly and fast too because time is running out on this matter.”

    Tanimu Turaki, Minister of Special Duties:

    “What I said is that we are willing to dialogue with them. And that’s why the Government set the Presidential Committee on a Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges even before the abduction of the Chibok girls. We want to have comprehensive discussions with them through dialogue, that will lead to the peaceful resolution of all issues, including but not limited to the release of the abducted girls. I didn’t say negotiation because that is too restrictive in the present circumstances.”

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  • APC: converting abducted Christian girls to Islam unacceptable

    APC: converting abducted Christian girls to Islam unacceptable

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the conversion to Islam of the Christians among the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram terror group four weeks ago in Chibok, Borno State.

    The party described the development as “totally unacceptable and downright unconstitutional”.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja, after an emergency meeting on the Boko Haram problem, the party also described as “utterly barbaric” the action of the girls’ abductors in forcing them to make statements against their convictions.

    It reminded the abductors that Nigeria is a multi-religious state where the constitution recognises the rights of the citizens to any religion of their choice, hence “it is patently wrong and unconscionable to force any citizen to convert from one religion to another”.

    APC added: “This whole abduction saga has hit at the very soul of our nation. But just when we felt we had all witnessed the worst atrocity by the primitive and brutal group called Boko Haram, we are confronted with a totally repulsive scene of teenage girls, literally with guns to their heads, being forced to say they have converted to Islam.

    “This is appalling, distasteful and unacceptable under any circumstance and we condemn it with all the strength we can muster.”

    The party urged the government to critically study the latest video by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau to see what other measures could be added to the ongoing international efforts to find and rescue the girls.

    “We have consistently said some form of negotiation cannot and should not be ruled out to pry our nation from the grip of these terrorists and ensure the safety and security of our citizens.

    “In this regard, we consider as prudent the government’s reaction that ‘all options are on the table’ to safely reunite our girls with their families,” APC said.

  • Do everything to secure release of girls, say Northern delegates

    Northern Delegates at the National Conference have asked the Federal Government to do everything possible to secure the release of the school girls abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram extremists.

    Spokesman of the delegates Anthony Sani told The Nation: “I  do not know the government’s stand on the offer made by Boko Haram that it is ready to exchange the abducted girls with the sect’s members who are prisoners.

    “Yet I would like to say it is the position of Northern Delegates Forum that government should go as far as effort can go and secure safe release of the abducted girls. More so that experts, from across those countries experienced in such difficult tasks, have offered to help Nigeria secure the release of the girls safely.”

    Sani expressed disappointmnt about reports of  disagreement among some Nigerians about the involvement of foreigners in Nigeria’s search for the abducted girls, describing it as upsetting.

    “ Upsetting because there is no basis for the disagreement, considering the over riding urgent need to rescue the girls which our efforts alone have not yielded the desired result, and the fact that terrorism transcends national boundaries.

    “Northern Delegates Forum, therefore, welcomes the offer of other countries to join the Nigerian government’s effort to rescue the abducted girls. There is no room for national pride being hurt in this matter. After all, Nigeria has been helping other countries sort out their security challenges. More over, it does not matter whether the cat is black, is white,is brown or it is spotted, as long as it can catch the rat.

    “And that was why when foreign missions visited Arewa Consultative Forum in the past, the forum appealed to them to come to the aid of Nigeria in the campaigns against the insurgence through sharing of intelligence, training, employment of counter terrorism strategies and operations of security personnel.

    “Northern Delegates Forum therefore wishes to appeal to our leaders at all level (be they political, religious and community leaders) and all public spirited individuals and groups with patriotic courage not to bring matter of security challenges into the political cock pit.Nigerians should all come together and confront this national malaise with all sense of seriousness.

    “And finally, Northern Delegates Forum urges the abductors of the Chibok girls to release them in the over all interest of Islam as a peaceful religion,and certainly not a religion which does not promote violence.”

     

     

     

  • U.S. surveillance aircraft join hunt for girls

    U.S. surveillance aircraft join hunt for girls

    United States (U.S.) surveillance aircraft were flying over remote areas of the Northeast as part of an international hunt for the girls kidnapped a month ago by Boko Haram militants who stormed their school.

    Thousands of Nigerian troops have been sent to the region, while the United States and Britain also have teams on the ground to help with the search.

    The mass abduction of the girls from their boarding school in Chibok has caused international outrage and President Goodluck Jonathan’s government has faced criticism from parents and others for its  slow response. It has also brought global publicity to Boko Haram, which has killed thousands of Nigerians since it took up arms in 2009 to fight for an Islamist state.

    The group had initially threatened to sell the girls into slavery but on Monday offered to trade them for detained militants. The U.S. State Department said Washington had sent military, law-enforcement and development experts to Nigeria to help search for the missing girls. “We have shared commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerians and are flying manned ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) assets over Nigeria with the government’s permission,” a U.S. official said.  U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said U.S. teams on the ground “are digging in on the search and coordinating closely with the Nigerian government as well as international partners and allies”. The girls’ exact whereabouts and whether they are being held in one or more groups is not known. Chibok is close to Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, Niger and Chad in a sparsely populated area of the Sahel region.

  • Swapping guerillas for girls

    Swapping guerillas for girls

    Without doubt, the latest prisoner-exchange proposal by the Islamist militia Boko Haram further introduced complicating factors to the Jonathan administration’s anti-terror campaign.  This particular move is strikingly different from the group’s reported 2011 demand for the release of its detained members in an open letter to the Kano State governor.  This time, it has bargaining chips that cannot be ignored, specifically the over 200 students of the Girls Senior Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, whose abduction on April 15 triggered global outrage and condemnation.

    Certainly, it is imprecise to describe the girls as prisoners, except perhaps in a loose sense, for they were seized in their school environment in non-combat circumstances. However, this reality does not make them any less caged, perhaps like prisoners. So, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was evidently contemptuous of nomenclatural niceties when he unveiled his current swap scheme.

    He said:  “All I’m saying is, if you want us to release your girls that we kidnapped, you must release our brethren that are held in Borno, Yobe, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu and Lagos states, as well as Abuja. We know that you have incarcerated our brethren all over this country (Nigeria).” According to him, “There are some of my brethren who have spent five complete years without seeing their wives, without seeing their children. For God’s sake, even for ensuring their release, will I not kidnap? After all Allah says I should kidnap. You that seized and detained my brethren for five years, you arrested and kept a woman without getting married for four, five years, you seized and hold our children… They are staying with us. We will never release them until our brethren are released.”

    Indeed, the concept and practice of prisoner exchange or prisoner swap are not strange, and according to historical records date back at least to the Arab- Byzantine prisoner exchanges between the late 8th century and the mid-10th century. Following ceasefire, both sides regularly exchanged prisoners on the river Lamos on the border between Byzantium and the Caliphate. It was a man-for-man swap and two bridges were built over the river, one for the prisoners of each side. Each of the sides released one prisoner at a time, and both walked simultaneously across the bridges toward their different camps. Although it is unclear whether Boko Haram would favour this approach or a modified form, it is obvious that the model will present difficulties.

    In more recent times, the perennial Arab-Israeli conflict has had its share of prisoner exchanges. Notably, the first of such exchanges took place after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Israel swapped all its Palestinian prisoners and prisoners of war (POWs) from Arab armies for all Israeli soldiers and civilians captured during the war.

    Sometimes, the dead are involved in an exchange, although it is hoped that such swap will not be the case in this instance. In the example of Israel, this has happened on quite a few occasions. In June 2008, Israel released the Lebanese prisoner Nissim Nasser to Hezbollah, in exchange for the remains of 20 Israeli soldiers killed during the 2006 Lebanon War. Also in July of the same year Israel released long-incarcerated Lebanese Samir al-Quntar, four Hezbollah fighters captured in the same war and the bodies of 199 fighters captured by Israel in the past 30 years. Hezbolla, in turn, released the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, captured in a cross-border raid in July 2006.  More recently, in October 2011 captured IDF tank gunner Gilad Shalit, who was held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in 2006, was set free in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Despite the paucity of information about the nitty-gritty of the process, the most important actuality is these swaps happened.

    Interestingly, perhaps more relevant to the abducted Chibok girls is the Humanitarian Exchange or Humanitarian Accord., which was popularised by the experience of Colombia. It also has significant parallels with the Jonathan presidency’s battle with the religious insurgents on account of the dimension of guerilla warfare adopted by Boko Haram to the perplexity of government forces. The Humanitarian Exchange in Colombia involved an agreement to exchange hostages for prisoners between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerilla organisation and the Government of Colombia. The FARC began kidnap operations in the 1970s to pressure the government into releasing its jailed members.

    It is noteworthy that the accord was basically driven by the families of the hostages, some Colombian politicians and a number of governments, including France and Venezuela. It would be interesting to see whether the Bring Back Our Girls campaign could eventually push such agreement.  Following years of armed conflict with the government, the FARC abducted several high-proflie government officials, politicians and military and police personnel as a means of forcing the release of its members jailed by the government. Initially, the FARC guerrillas gave a major condition for participation in the swap, and demanded that the government must demilitarise a zone, namely, the municipalities of Pradera and Florida in the southern Department of Valle del Cauca.

    This aspect of the  narrative is enlightening against the background of the Nigerian experience in which  the government introduced emergency rule in three affected northeastern  states, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, in May last year. Emergency conditions were extended for six months in November, and there has been intense controversy over a possible further extension since the last one expired last month. It is remarkable that unlike the FARC, Boko Haram has not explored the condition of demilitarisation.

    It is instructive that the government of Colombia firmly rejected this demand and insisted that it was impossible and could not be a subject of negotiation. The rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and three American contractors in July 2008 changed the picture, and the FARC abandoned the condition mainly because they had lost their most valuable captives. The guerillas eventually released their last political hostages in April 2012, without any mention of prisoner exchange.

    In particular, the group’s 2008 release of three civilian hostages, Luis Eladio Perez Bonilla, Gloria Polanco and Orlando Beltran Cuellar, kidnapped in 2001, to then Venezualan President Hugo Chavez on humanitarian grounds is of relevance because of the detail about the process. Under the arrangement, the trio and Jorge Eduardo Gechem Turbav, who was set free for health reasons, were transported by a Venezuelan helicopter to Caracas, Venezuela, from San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia, with the participation of the International Red Cross.

    In the case of the Chibok girl-hostages and their Boko Haram captors, swapping guerillas for girls, or girls for guerillas, is likely to come with challenges that the two parties involved may not completely anticipate.

  • Yobe Speaker: negotiate for girls’ release

    Yobe Speaker: negotiate for girls’ release

    Yobe State House of Assembly Speaker Adamu Dala Dogo has said negotiation with Boko Haram is a step towards the release of the schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State.

    The Speaker urged the sect to send its emissaries to the Federal Government for negotiation, adding that the government would not negotiate with faceless people.

    He said: “Let them (insurgents) come out and talk with the Federal Government. The government should negotiate with the sect and bring back our girls. But Boko Haram should also send their delegates to negotiate with the government because the government cannot negotiate with faceless people. I think negotiation is another way of solving the problem while the government is considering other options.

    “The use of force will put the lives of those girls on the line. That is the least the parents of the girls and other Nigerians expect.

    “The Federal Government must act responsibly and fast too because time is running out on this matter.

    “One other big solution to the abduction is for all and sundry, irrespective of our religions, to pray for the safe return of the girls. Only prayers can work here. So, I believe Nigerians should intensify their prayers for the release of these girls.”

    On the presidential committee of the abducted Chibok girls, Dala Dogo said: “If soldiers who have weapons cannot rescue those girls, how can a mere committee, comprising of politicians, bring back the girls.

    “In my opinion, only prayers with military action can bring back the girls to their parents. The best the committee will do is to visit Yobe and Borno states and Chibok to meet with the parents of the children. It will then go back to Abuja and submit its report. That will be the end of the story.

    “This is a waste of time, energy and resources. Prayers are key as far as I am concerned.”

    The state is divided on the need for negotiation. Many people do not believe in such a move though others support it.