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Tag: Chibok girls

  • The Chibok girls as stakeholders’ meal ticket – Oriola

    The Chibok girls as stakeholders’ meal ticket – Oriola

    Against the backdrop of their predicament, concerns have risen over the perceived exploitation of the Chibok Girls by their supposed helpers. Temitope Oriola, a Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the University of Alberta, Canada, stated that the Chibok girls have produced various forms of capital for certain claims-makers and miscellaneous ‘stakeholders.’

    According to him, “The exploitation of the Chibok girls is a fraction of a larger economy of graft and miscellaneous criminality in relation to the social impact of Boko Haram.’

    In his extensive treatise on the saga, Prof. Oriola traced how various stakeholders, within and outside government circuits, have exploited the plight of the Chibok girls.

    In his recent treatise, “The Exploitation Of Nigeria’s Chibok Girls And The Creation Of A Social Problem Industry,” Oriola highlighted how different stakeholders exploit the miseries of the Chibok girls.

    The immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, he said, exploited the girls’ release for symbolic capital and political mileage.

    Analysing how separate parties exploited the first Chibok girl to secure her release, he said, “For instance, a vigilante group found Amina Darsha Nkeki on May 17, 2016. She was the first Chibok girl found. Amina returned from captivity with a young child and her Boko Haram ‘husband.’ Nkeki and her child were flown to Abuja from Maiduguri for a medical check-up and sent for photo ops at the presidential villa 48 hours after they were found.

    “Nkeki’s visit to the presidency was a huge political affair despite her frail health after over two years in captivity. President Buhari, the First Lady, the Governor of Borno state, military chiefs, and several other top government officials received Nkeki and her son. The government was intent on celebrating the moment in the full glare of global television. Nkeki was not in the physical and mental shape for the fanfare as she was limping and severely malnourished when she arrived with her baby.”

     International dispute over alleged exploitation of Chibok girls

    According to Prof. Oriola, 19 of the Chibok girls who escaped from Boko Haram the night they were captured have also been used to serve the agendas of a web of international actors, organisations, and interests. The interplay of political actors, human rights advocates, school administrators, NGOs, and unsuspecting humanitarians in the USA has led to serious concerns, accusations, and counter-accusations about the entities exploiting the Chibok girls.

    The Chibok girls have been used to raise funds at public events in the USA. Thousands of dollars have been raised in both online and inperson campaigns with little accountability. The Nigerian government expressed concerns in 2016 that the girls were ‘used as tools for making money’ by NGOs in the USA.

    Aisha Alhassan, Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, informed parents of the victims that the government had confirmed that the girls were being exploited. Yakubu Nkeki Maiva, a representative of the parents, asked the government to take over the girls’ education. He argued, ‘We were told that they were going there to study and not going on tourism. We want them to return home with certificates and not tourists’ experiences.’

    A Nigerian government report notes that the girls accused their sponsors of using them as money-minting machines. The fraud allegations were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2016 but the FBI despite its suspicion that the stakeholder involved had likely been keeping or misappropriating money raised in the name of the Chibok students, realised that some fraction of the money had also been used to house and transport them thus making it difficult to prosecute the case.

    The series of events organised to raise funds purportedly for the welfare of the Chibok girls necessitated having the girls recount the kidnap ordeal within a few days of arriving in the USA. This further traumatised them. Time and over again, the girls were asked to recount an escape that they wished to put behind them. However, the constant retelling of the stories before well-paying audiences became problematic for the integrity of their experiences.

    It ensnared the girls in lies, deceit, and rhetorical embellishments: ‘In time, the young Nigerians themselves began to doubt each other’s survival stories. The accounts had changed so much in repeat tellings they became dissociated from the actual ordeal.’

    Read Also: Chibok girls: Parents, CAN demand release of 91 left in captivity

    One of the girls revealed that their sponsors often urged them ‘to embellish their accounts… to make the story interesting so that people will like it so much.’

    In addition, the 106 girls who have remained in Nigeria have been at the centre of public relations campaigns. For instance, the Nigerian government announced in November 2017 that it had paid the second-semester school fees (N164.8 million or over US$450,000) to the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, for the 106 Chibok girls. This gave the impression that all 106 girls were undergraduate students at AUN.

    However, only six of the girls were university students. A journalist with access to the girls notes that all but six of the girls ‘are on university premises but studying a special course. Some of them have been taught at nursery school level.

    It was further revealed that some of the girls required at least eight years to proceed to the university level because of the poor education they had before the kidnapping incident. Therefore, about 100 of the girls were enrolled in the New Foundation School, a school within a school on the campus of AUN. Four other Chibok girls enrolled as undergraduates in September 2018. The general reportage of the Chibok matter laid the groundwork for widespread misperception of the true educational level of the girls. The journalist cited earlier argues:

    “When they escaped, people scrambled. People in the US, thinking they were dealing with girls about to go into the university… (T)hey thought that these were girls that were disrupted from being medical doctors and engineers. You know the CNN and BBC thing, which you and I know is a lie. They were not on the way to becoming medical doctors or engineers, not with the quality of education they were getting. But these people saw these things on the media and thought it was real and they scrambled to get these girls to school. So, you take them to a place like the US and find out that they can’t even speak English. So I know it threw a lot of people off balance and for the girls, it was very upsetting.”

    “Some of the girls also appear to struggle with a diminished sense of selfworth by being reduced to one incident on one night of their lives. One of the girls in the USA noted, ‘We hate when they call us Chibok girls…I am Kauna.’ The girls have also experienced chronic instability in their education and residence in the USA. Some of the girls attended five schools within four years due to being constantly relocated because of struggles over control by their handlers.

  • FG urged to negotiate release of 82 Chibok girls

    FG urged to negotiate release of 82 Chibok girls

    The Federal government has been urged to negotiate return of the 82 Chibok girls still in the hands of Boko Haram abductors.

    In April 2014,  279 girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State were abducted from their hostels. Since then, 137 have been rescued while 82 are still in captivity.

    Former Chibok Local Government Secretary, Mr. Awomi Nkeki, appealed to the Federal Government to consider negotiation for their release. 

    The former LG chief, who is an uncle to two of the girls still in captivity, said: “The Federal government is doing its best, President Jonathan tried, even in the period of President Buhari, many of them were released. After that mass release, the girls have been escaping and coming out in piecemeal, through the efforts of the Joint Task Forces.

    “Even last year, one came directly to my house, one of my relative’s daughters. She happened to have escaped from Sambisa then got to Bama, then to another place before getting to my house before I later sent her to a rehabilitation centre after which I took her to her parents.

    “Generally, this is beyond the control of the government because these abductions have an international dimension to it, there is nothing the government can do. 

    “The government has been trying to rescue the girls and they have to be diplomatic about it while we, Nigerians have to support them with prayers because the whole is complicated.

    “For instance, they were telling us that the abductors were in Sambisa but the one that came to my house was telling us that they were not in a single place but in groups in different locations”.

    On the plight of the parents of the remaining girls in captivity, Nkeki lamented everyone related to the held girls are traumatised. 

    He said: “The parents and those of us who are not direct parents are in pain, traumatized but what can do we do beyond our control? Nothing.

    “There was a time when I was the Local Government Secretary, the Chairman had resigned then when some of them were brought in, some were sent to the American University and some abroad, if you can recall.

    “The ones brought to us, they say we should camp and counsel them for two weeks, but I declined, I told them Chibok is bordering Sambisa and anyone can just imagine the mental torture of realizing that the girls would be going through whenever they remember that they are not far from Sambisa. Eventually, the girls were taken to Yola.

    Read Also: Facilitate release of 92 Chibok girls, parents beg Tinubu

    “Generally, if you have not seen your teenage child for one month, how would feel, let alone 10 years? For 10 years we have not seen them, whether dead or alive, we are just in a situation of hopefulness and hopelessness at the same time, in Chibok, we are mourning them. There’s nothing you and I can do”.

    Nkeki also offered his opinion on securing the safe release of the girls. 

    He said:  “The government is putting in its best but in my mind, I think the solution lies in negotiation. 

    “I say this because I see that the Boko Haram are in captivity in the hands of the government, we are in the hands of Boko Haram, so if through negotiation, swapping becomes an option for our girls to come back from there, so be it.

    “I don’t think force could do it because we have seen the Joint Task Force combing Sambisa for the victims and we’ve heard how some of the abductors have been escaping, but I doubt if we can succeed 100 per cent with force.  

    “As I said before, we are traumatized but it is beyond our control, these are children who came to write exams and all of a sudden, they were taken away and we have not seen them again up till now. It is painful, very painful”. 

  • Will Chibok girls, Leah Sharibu ever be found?

    Sir: History mirrors our yesterday. Its verdict may be harsh or kind depending our actions or inaction today. So, last week, a sad chapter of our history was once again laid bare when the Bring Back Our Girls Group marked 2000 days of Chibok girls’ abduction.

    Of course, it was not surprising that the name of former President Jonathan popped up being the occupant of Nigeria’s number one office at the time the girls were stolen. In his memoir, For The Record, former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had accused the Otuoke-born ex-Nigerian leader of failing to give enough support to Britain when it volunteered to rescue the abducted girls, saying he was a leader that slept on the wheel.

    Expectedly, his accusation triggered brickbats between him and the former Nigerian leader with Jonathan urging the general public to take his accusation with a pinch of salt. He called it a fairy tale calculated at casting him in a bad light.

    To be frank, Cameron did not say anything new about the Chibok abduction that happened on April 14, 2014.The former Nigerian president can deny that there was never an offer to help by the British government.

    What cannot be denied is the fact that for complete two weeks after the abduction, he maintained a deafening silence because he reasoned that the abduction was part of the plans by his political enemies to bring down his government. Also, it cannot be denied that on his watch, Boko Haram flourished and became one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world. No one can also deny that at least 112 Chibok girls are still missing more than five years after they were abducted. It is also not a lie that his former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, is in the custody of the Department of State Services(DSS) following allegations that he funneled defense funds into elections at a time Boko Haram conquered swathes of territories in the northeast.

    Truth be told, leaders in this part of the world hardly take responsibility for their actions or inaction. It explains why Jonathan would see the Chibok abduction as a conspiracy against his government instead of an evidence of the failure of the government in tackling the worrying security problem that beset Nigeria during his stint as Nigeria’s president.

    But alas, Dapchi happened on President Buhari’s watch. And over 100 girls were herded away in trucks. Though it is true that the response of the present government was swift when juxtaposed with the Chibok abduction, five girls were reported dead and one girl, Leah Sharibu is still in captivity. It remains to be seen how Buhari’s APC has the bragging rights to taunt the PDP under Jonathan for failing to secure Nigeria and Nigerians.

    Buhari had promised that every Nigerian child would be safe in their schools in the run-up to the 2015 election. Only recently, armed men attacked Engravers College, a boarding secondary school in Chikun, Kaduna State and abducted two staff and six female students.

    Like the missing Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu, they are victims of the failure of the people who swore to protect them. Their sin: they dared to seek knowledge. Despite several assurances from the presidency that abducted Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu would be reunited with their families, they remain in the den of their abductors, leaving their distraught loved ones in the prison of hope.

    What appears to be an advertisement of the hopeless and helpless situation of the worsening security problem bedevilling Nigeria is the resolve of the Borno State government to engage prayer warriors to bring back the peace that has eluded his state and the entire north.

    The action of the state government is a reminder of how we abandon leprosy to treat ringworm. Was it up to a month that it was reported that our soldiers still use obsolete equipment bought during the Shagari era? And prayer warriors are expected to do the magic obsolete equipment can’t do? Shouldn’t we demonstrate seriousness in leveraging technology to combat the rising spate of insecurity across the land like what obtains in same climes?  What are those in the power loop doing to take away the over 10 million out-of- school children that represent time bombs on our streets? Why are more people getting trapped in the chasm of poverty every passing day?

    Until we stop paying lip service to the issues that threaten our peace and unity, Dapchi and Chibok will continue to happen. Our missing girls must not be forgotten.

     

    • Ladesope Ladelokun,  ladesopeladelokun@gmail.com 

  • Chibok Girls: 2000 days in captivity, and counting

    In February 2014, Nigerians were frozen by the chilling news of the killing of 59 school boys by Boko Haram in Yobe State. The buildings in the school were all burnt down, after  the school boys were shot dead. The horror had only just begun. Less than two months after, the Islamic Extremist Terror Group rocked the world with their abduction of 267 schoolgirls, aged 16-18 from their boarding school on the night of April 14,2014. The innocent girls were finalists at the Government Girls Secondary School,  Chibok in Borno State. A couple of weeks later, on May 5, 2014, the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau released a video claiming responsibility for the abductions, even as he vowed to “sell” all the girls. The same month,  a chilling video of the girls in captivity was released. In it, the girls begged for their release.

    (Yesterday) Saturday October 5,2019 made it 2000 days in the captivity of terrorists for the 112 girls currently remaining.That is five and a half long years of terror and anguish for these unarmed,  innocent schoolgirls. Their trauma and suffering is what is brought to mind today; their 2001st in captivity,  even as this serves to remind the global community of the need to rescue the Chibok girls!

    There are others too,to be rescued and brought back. The militant arm of Boko Haram,the Albarnawi Faction staged another schoolgirl abduction in 2018,taking 110 students captive from a girls school in Dapchi, Yobe State. After receiving millions of dollars as ransom from the government,  the terrorists on March 25 2018 still failed to release one of the Dapchi girls; the now iconic Leah Sharibu. Sharibu, a Christian refused to forcibly convert to Islam and remains a captive to this day ( today makes it 594 days in captivity, that is 19 months and 2 weeks exactly).

    Then there is Alice Ngaddah, another sad case. She was one of 3 humanitarian workers from the ICRC and UNICEF.They were also kidnapped by the deadly Albarnawi in 2018. Ngaddah is the only survivor of the 3 following official refusal to pay any ransom. Her captors spared her life only so they could enslave her; promising her a lifetime of slavery. All she ever did was to work to rescue and help victims of terrorist attacks!

    About 50 of the Chibok girls managed to escape in the early months, including Joy Bishara and Lydia Pogu, who both leapt out of the truck of their abductors.( 57 girls have reportedly escaped). In 2017, the President of the USA, Donald Trump hosted the 2 Chibok girls Joy and Lydia at the White House, along with his daughter Ivanka. The terrorists had promised to sell the girls; President Trump assured that combating human trafficking was a top priority of his administration.

    In October 2016 there was a wonderful breakthrough: 21 girls were freed in a prison swap. And then in May 2017, 82 more girls were released in exchange for 5 Boko Haram commanders held in custody. President Muhammadu Buhari received the girls at the Presidential Villa,  along with top government functionaries also on hand for the reception.

    All through,it has been a long hard walk for all,outside of captivity. Around the world,vigils were held under the banner #BringBackOurGirls to mark 100 days in captivity,in July 2014. Exactly 5 years ago in October 2014, the Nigerian Embassy in New York was besieged by protesters,led by the R&B diva Alicia Keys to protest 6 months of  the Chibok Girls in captivity. A lot  of celebrities the world over have weighed in on the BringBackOurGirls movement- Kim Kardashian,  Wesley Snipes, Beyonce, and Ellen DeGeneres have all spoken out, amongst many others celebrities. Malala Youfsafzai has met with some of the freed girls, and former US First Lady Michelle Obama has lent her support. Recently, a Nigerian filmmaker,  Joel Kachi Benson won an award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival for his documentary ‘Daughters of Chibok ‘. And Isha Sesay, former CNN presenter has published her first book ‘Beneath the Tambarind Tree’- on the Chibok Girls.

    In Abuja, at the Unity Fountain; a daily, unbroken sit -in is held for the girls. Gapani Yanga is the longest serving coordinator of the sit-in ,ongoing for 5 years now. The commemoration of  2000 days involved the release of a press statement and figurative display of 112 pairs of girls’ shoes- to depict the still missing girls.

    Emotions have been stirred across the globe. From New Zealand, this is Rose Wingate,”The kidnapping of schoolgirls in their masses in 2014. Tragically sad for the parents and Chibok community. We still mourn for their loss every day.112 Chibok girls remain with Boko Haram terrorists.  How horrid for us”.

    Surely,she speaks for us all, Nigerian and non-Nigerian alike.

    We want Leah, Agnes and the other 112 Chibok girls rescued, and freed from their agony.

    Responses 07055547031 sms/whatsapp Twitter @mikky_princess

  • Chibok girls, symbol of a nation

    SIR: Boko Haram insurgents invaded a village at Chibok, Borno State, on Sunday last week, wreaking havoc, exactly five years into the abduction of 276 girls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok. A witness told an online medium that activities to commemorate the fifth anniversary were still ongoing on Sunday when residents learnt of the invasion of Kwarangullum village by the insurgents.

    So, it’s five years and still counting; the Chibok girls have now become a symbol of nation and her wayward ways. Chibok has no electricity, no good roads, health is on leave of absence; the only bank for a long time was simply an agency. Chibok had but that only secondary school. Chibok is Nigeria, and Nigeria is Chibok. Chibok since Chibok has been raided some five times, averaging one attack per year.

    While our leaders were in Rwanda, physically present commemorating the genocide in that country; Chibok in our backyard was relegated to a tweet matter.

    Today after years of pressure there is semblance of a list of missing persons but it’s not even accessible and very conflicting.

    Before Chibok, Boko Haram had established a tradition of abducting girls and women, for countless reasons, the authorities were quiet, the media reported a few it could, and many parents kept quiet and took it all in their stride.

    While late Sani Abacha is credited with theory that “if killings go on for so, so and so time, the government knows about it, or are behind it”, this is one of such gone terribly sour because the government has little in terms of credible intelligence. Currently it says they are working with the Swiss, and common whom have we not worked with on the Chibok matter? Recall, the drama of what I call the international week of Boko Haram—the week United States, UK, France, China, Togo, were all willing to help, and how the drones were droning. Nothing happened!

    I recall the dramatic negotiation and Chadian ballet between Modu Sherif, Idris Derby and former President Goodluck Jonathan; for a fact it simply occurred to me that we are not really a serious people on matters that we should be serious. Fact is, many of our tales of nationhood is Chibok like…

    Cruel fact is that, several hundreds of girls that are victims of this terrible group have paid the ultimate price, a few have escaped with almost irreparable damage, others have become part of them, and we have not done much.

    It is equally a fact that one of the many reasons that Boko haram may continue for a while is because many still do not know what the group is all about, does it have an ideology, what really is it about…a CIA conspiracy or a thing about poverty?

    As we continue to run commentary on the #BringBackOurGirls advocacy, reminding us of the Chibok girls, I cannot but feel for the real parents, how many are now making money out of them. How a part and not all, of the campaign has become like many a CSO thing–a source of income, with the Nigerian factor at work.

    The Chibok parents continue grieving and mourning, but really it is more of bewilderment and pain, as they do not know exactly the situation of their wards. There is no, may never be any closure, and that fact is gruesomely scary.

    Five years, we have lost men and officers, more villagers have been killed and loads of propaganda, half-truths, misinformation and sheer falsehoods.

    The Boko Haram group in all their splinters, continue making all sorts of demands, releasing videos, and creating more confusion, but the fact is that some girls just disappeared. They were abducted because our institutions are not working the way it should, the girls’ will/may not be found because we are not sincere people, and because many of them are dead, and because we are largely and easily divided by our selfish motives.

    And as it is tradition, we again will engage in blame games. Let us remember that the longer we are on this Chibok saga, it reminds of us of who we really are.

     

    • Prince Charles Dickson, PhD,

    <pcdbooks@gmail.com>

  • We have depreciated Boko Haram’s efficacy – FG

    The Federal Government on Monday reiterated its position that it has “largely depreciated the efficiency and efficacy of Boko Haram” insurgents.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the government position when he featured on a live TVC News Programme, “This Morning,” monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    Mohammed said that for anyone to correctly assess the administration’s performance in fighting insecurity, particularly Boko Haram, the individual must understand what the situation was before the inception of the administration in 2015.

    “Pre-2015, the Boko Haram terrorists walked freely into any city in Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory. They chose where and when to make havoc. United Nations headquarters, the Police headquarters were not spared.

    “In 2013 to 2014, Boko Haram was active in at least, 10 states of the federation where they struck at will, they occupied 17 local governments in Borno State alone, four in Adamawa and two in Yobe.

    “People have easily forgotten that prior to 2015, roads to the North East were blocked, schools were closed, banks folded up, telecommunication companies folded up in the North East.

    “The El-Kanemi Warriors football Club of Maiduguri relocated to Bauchi for all its home games,” he said

    The minister said that the administration had reversed the trend since 2015 it assumed power,  chasing away the insurgents out of Nigeria.

    “Today, we can say proudly that the situations have never repeated itself.

    ‘’Since we came in, Boko Haram insurgents have not attacked any institution inside and outside Abuja.

    “All the schools, banks, telecommunication companies are all opened and functioning in the North East and we have succeeded in confining them to outside Nigeria.

    “Today, the Elkanemi football club hosts all other teams from other parts of Nigeria in Maiduguri.

    ” This is because the government has restored normalcy to the state,” he said.

    The minister noted that terrorism is a global phenomenon and government would continue to appeal to its global and regional partners to stand with it in the fight.

    He said with the dislodgment of ISIS from Syria, the group had been trying very hard to get a foothold over Africa through Boko Haram.

    “We will continue to boost our relationship with the multi national joint task and all global partners that are helping us in the fight,” he said.

    On the abducted Chibok girls remaining in captivity and Leah Sharibu, the minister said that the government was committed to bringing them back.

    “We are working daily with the international partners in that regards.

    “However, it is not everything that we can discuss in the public because of the very tender nature of the negotiation,” he said.

    The minister said that the government was on top of the situation regarding the banditry, cattle rustling and criminality in Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina states.

    He said the last two weeks had witnessed a lot of gains on the part of the military in fighting insecurity in the states.

    According to Mohammed, there is no crime-free nation, what is important is what the government is doing to address the challenges.

  • Intensify efforts to free Chibok girls, CACOL pleads

    The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts to secure the release of the abducted Chibok girls.

    The girls were abducted on April 15, 2014.

    The group said no stoned should be left unturned in freeing all those in Boko Haram’s captivity, including Leah Sharibu.

    In a statement by the Centre’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, CACOL said: “Those girls have not been secured completely because of the lack of adequate will to explore all necessary processes required to bring back the girls.

    “There is inadequate intelligence, commitment and funding of those cognate forces required to achieve the feat.

    “All of these observed inadequacies combine to elongate the confinement of these hapless ladies.”

    CACOL noted that most of the girls, who were preparing for their West African Senior School Certificate examinations when they were abducted, would have graduated by now.

    It added: “Their parents and generality of Nigerians need to be constantly kept abreast of proof of life for as many as still possible amongst them, their location, and whatever fate has befallen them, from time to time. This is the only acceptable response of a deserving government.

    “This much would not have been difficult, if there had been an effective intelligence and cooperative endeavor with neighboring countries, like Chad, Cameroon, Niger and any other places, where these insurgents have made their focus of activities.

    “In essence, the Federal Government has to demonstrate greater political will and put in more workable strategies and effective cooperative endeavours, with neighboring countries to achieve tangible outcomes that should be patently evident.”

    On Miss Sharibu, CACOL said it was not enough for the government to keep reassuring Nigerians that she is alive and well.

    It believes extra efforts must be made to secure her release, in view of the fact that those abducted with her had since regained their freedom.

    “We, therefore, advise that the Buhari-led administration should take a step further by stamping its foot in the sands of time through a complete overhaul of the security architecture of Nigeria in a way that reinforces the sacredness of lives and properties of all Nigerians,” the Centre added.

  • ‘We’re still searching for Chibok girls’, says Buratai

    Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, on Monday said the search for the remaining abducted Chibok girls was still on.

    He however said activities of Boko Haram have been confined to Lake Chad region and fringes of Sambisa forest.

    Buratai spoke while delivering the maiden lecture of the Centre for Contemporary Security Affairs at the Igbinedion University, Okada headquarters of Ovia North East local government area.

    He stated that complex security challenges like the Boko Haram activities required political and security solutions that ensure that democracies rebound stronger after a crisis.

    Buratai said the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has fulfilled the pledge to support the by donating the sum of $100 million.

    The Army Chief said the current political leadership has demonstrated strong political will, purposeful direction and resourcing that galvanised the nation against the common enemy.

    He informed the gathering that adequate resources were provided to re-kit, procure more arms and ammunition, vehicles and other logistics required to prosecute the campaign against insurgency.

    According to him: “Military leadership invariably draws inspiration from the political leadership and this allows it develop military strategic objectives that are to be achieved

    “One of the silent but radical changes in the operations was changing the orientation and mind-set of troops from a defensive to an offensive posture. We also created the Theatre Command to coordinate the activities of the divisions involved in the operations.

    READ ALSO: Chibok girls are abandoned, says #BBOG

    “Socio-economic activities and free movement of people and goods have resumed in many areas.

    “Significant improvements can be attributed to the systematic campaign led by the NA in conjunction with other Services and elements of national power

    “Success recorded so far is an indication that for Nigeria’s democracy to be consolidated, the military must not only play its part but must also fulfill the constitutional roles assigned to them.”

    He assured the Army under his leadership would partner with the institution to build officers’ intellectual capacity.

    Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the centre when operational would carry out research that interrogates emerging security challenges of local and global concern.

    Prof. Ezemonye noted the strategy was to create a Faculty that provides knowledge based interventions for effective enforcement response, being a rich blend of academic researchers in security affairs and practitioners from the military and allied agencies.

  • Chibok Girls, Leah Sharibu can still return, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that all hope is  not yet lost on the possible return of the remaining 112 Chibok girls from Boko Haram captivity.

    Buhari assured the girls’ parents that he has not forgotten them.

    It is exactly five years today that Boko Haram terrorists stormed the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, seized about 276 of them.

    About 60 girls managed to escape in the melee following their abduction while Buhari Administration secured the release of 107.

    About 100 are still with the sect.

    But Buhari speaking on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the abduction yesterday said government was still working on getting the girls and Leah Sharibu back home.

    Leah and about 110 other students of Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School, Dapchi, Bursari local government area of Yobe State were abducted on the night of February 19, 2018.

    But while all the other girls were released almost immediately, the terrorists have held on to Leah because she refused to renounce Christianity her faith.

    Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said Leah’s return was being hindered by fear on the part of her abductors.

    His words: “President Muhammadu Buhari would like to remind the parents of the school girls of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State that he has still not forgotten their daughters who were kidnapped from their dormitory five years ago (April 14, 2014).

    “He promised the parents when he met them, at the beginning of his first term as president, that he would bring their daughters home.

    “He is aware that this promise he made is the main reason the people of Chibok voted overwhelmingly for him in the February elections, and although his government has so far succeeded in bringing back 107 of the girls, the President will not rest until the remaining are reunited with their families.

    “President Buhari assures the parents that his administration is still on the matter.

    “Diverse efforts are being intensified to secure the release of the Chibok Girls, along with all hostages in Boko Haram captivity, including Leah Sharibu who was kidnapped from her school, Science Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018.

    “On Leah Sharibu’s abduction, the interlocutors have reported encouraging progress so far.

    “The report reaching us says her return to her family has unfortunately been hindered by the fear of the militants.

    “They worry that heavy military presence in areas where they previously moved about freely could affect their safety after they return her to the government.

    “At the same time, the military cannot jeopardise the security of the entire north-eastern region by halting their operations to accommodate Boko Haram’s fears.

    “Leah Sharibu will be reunited with her family as soon as any conclusions are reached on a number of options being considered for her safe transportation.

    “The success of the Nigerian military in subduing Boko Haram is evidenced by the large numbers of militants who have surrendered recently, especially in neighbouring Cameroon and Niger.

    “A similar mass surrender of militants is expected to happen soon in Nigeria.

    “While Nigerian military operations are ongoing, the government is also engaging with the militants but the talks have been affected by the factionalisation of Boko Haram – with one group adopting a hard line attitude and intensifying attacks on Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, and another group engaging with the government for peaceful resolution.

    “President Buhari also uses this opportunity of the commemoration of the Chibok tragedy to commend the girls, now women, who have triumphed over it all.

    “He sends special greetings to the 106 girls sponsored by the Nigerian government to continue their studies at the American University of Nigeria, Yola.

    “He encourages them to stay focused on becoming women who will inspire girls in Nigeria and around the world to triumph over the daily battles they face in a world that is often unfair to the girl-child.

    “President Buhari also extends his best wishes to Chibok girls in other schools in Nigeria and around the world.

    “He sends special congratulations to Kauna Yaga Bitrus, who has excelled beyond expectations in her college in Maine, USA, and who is soon to receive a special ‘Against All Odds Award’ from her school.”

     

  • Senate to FG: explore dialogue to free Leah Sharibu, others

    The Senate on Thursday asked the Federal Government to expedite action to secure the release of Leah Sharibu and other remaining school girls adopted by the Boko Haram insurgents.

    The resolution followed a point of order raised by the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani on the need for the Federal Government to hasten action on the release of Leah Sharibu.

    Recall that a splinter group of Boko Haram insurgents on the 19th of February, 2018, abducted a total of 115 girls from Science Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe State.

    The insurgents released 109 of them a month after and claimed that five out of the abducted girls died in captivity, while Leah Sharibu was held back for refusing to renounce her Christian faith .

    The Federal Government promised Leah Sharibu’s parents that her release from captivity would be achieved by all means possible.

    About 13 months after, Leah Sharibu is still in captivity of her abductors.

    Sani, in his point of order that was not debated, noted that there is the need to urge the Federal Government to expedite action by whatever means possible to secure the release of Leah.

    Relying on Order 43 (personal explanation) Sani said: “Fourteen months of Leah Sharibu in the captivity of Boko Haram insurgents and five years of the yet to be released Chibok girls , call for national concern and urgent need by relevant authorities to do all within their powers in getting them released .

    “What perhaps may be the most important strategy to be adopted in getting Leah and others out of captivity is the option of dialogue with the their abductors .

    “It has worked in so many other places where similar abductions took place like Afghanistan , Pakistan terrorised by the Talibans .

    “Though government cannot be said not to have taken actions in getting Leah and others released, but there is need for it to redouble and expedite actions in that direction for parents and relatives of the abductees be freed from psychological trauma they must have been facing and for the abductees to know that they have a country that cares for them.”

    Sani noted his submission was meant to ignite action on the side of government towards securing the release of Leah and others held captive by insurgents.

    The Kaduna Central lawmaker said that there seemed to be a lull on the side of government on the release of Leah and other school girls held by insurgents.

    He said: “I raised the issue of Leah to prick the conscience of government to act. Leah symbolizes resistance. Such a young soul should not be allowed to perish due to inaction of government.

    ‘I raised the issue of dialogue through negotiators. I am confident that Leah can be freed through negotiation. Negotiation has worked in some dangerous places.

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    “Each day Leah stays in the hands of her abductors is a dent on the government. I am sure Leah is alive. If she is dead, her abductors should have announced it.

    “If Leah is the daughter of a high ranking government official she should have been released. The silence of those who should speak up on the issue of Leah is also worrisome.

    “It is a serious dereliction of responsibility for anyone who should speak truth to the authority to keep quite.

    He went on: “The life of any hostage is more important than any grandstanding that we should not negotiate and dialogue with terrorists.

    “I want the government to do all it can to secure the release of Leah. It is hypocritical to say you will not dialogue with terrorists when people are paying ransom. I will continue to speak about Leah until the last day I will leave this Senate.”

    Sani also said that negotiation to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls was abandoned.

    He insisted the remaining Chibok girls, the Dapchi girl will continue to prick the conscience of the country until that are released.

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki, noted that all efforts should be made by the Federal Government to secure the release of Leah and others held by abductors.