TEN months after the abduction of 276 girls from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram insurgents, the fate of the girls continues to attract global attention.
The thorny issue came to the fore again midweek during the monthly Presidential Chat when President Goodluck Jonathan was asked what his administration was doing to rescue the girls.
Asked if he believes all the girls would be rescued alive, President Jonathan cleared his throat and said: “About 200 girls were kidnapped over a period and you want the President to tell you they will be rescued alive. Of course, we will recover them alive. I’m not God, but as President, I’m more hopeful now than before of maximum cooperation we are getting from other countries.
“I believe that in the next few weeks, the story will be better. We are working with our neighbours, we will comb the whole area. I am more hopeful now than before. It’s unfortunate that people play politics with the issue of the Chibok girls. It’s not like that elsewhere. In other countries, political boundaries collapse in the face of terror attacks, not so in Nigeria.”
Since their kidnap on April 14, 2014, the country has been thrown into a frenzy of protests, with several groups joining forces to pressurise the Federal Government to take concrete steps aimed at rescuing the girls.
Today, the #Bring back our girls (#BBOG), the blog created by the groups advocating the rescue of the girls, has become a household statement among Nigerians and international celebrities like Alicia Keys and American First Lady, Michelle Obama and teenage Nobel prize winner, Malala, among several others. With the first anniversary of the abduction barely two months away, and with no sign of the terrorist activities of the Boko Haram ending any time soon, Nigerians are beginning to get frustrated with the seeming half-hearted effort of the Federal Government.
While the nation continues to seek answers to the mysterious and shocking kidnap, the government, in its usual dismissive attitude, continues to behave in a manner that shows that it wishes that the abduction, like many other atrocities committed by Boko Haram, would soon be forgotten and swept under the carpet.
However, despite the lukewarm approach by the government, Nigerians have continued with the battle to ensure that the girls are rescued and brought home alive.
With the claims by the insurgents that the girls have been married off, the hopes of rescuing all the girls continue to dim. Others have also expressed the fears that most of the girls may be pregnant or become nursing mothers.
It will be recalled that barely 15 days after the abduction, more than 300 women, supported by some men, marched to the gates of the National Assembly, where they were addressed by the Senate President, David Mark.
The Senate President said: “We are all in pains over the abduction. In fact, most of the senators and members of the House of Representative were in tears when the issue was brought up on the floor for discussion. We promise to keep you updated on what is being done, either daily or even hourly, if you want.”
Unfortunately, like most promises made to Nigerians by politicians, neither Senator David Mark nor any representative of the government has updated Nigerians on the efforts being made to rescue the girls, either weekly or even monthly. And even after it realised that the problem of the girls was not something to be swept under the carpet, the government tried to change its approach.
Suddenly, faceless groups, claiming to be speaking for the girls, sprang up. Their efforts were geared towards countering the efforts of the #BBOG to draw global attention to the plight of the missing girls and their grieving families.
Nigerians were left speechless when, 85 days after the abduction, and the 70th day of the sit-out by the members of #BBOG, the Deputy Director of the Department of State Security, Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, in an attempt to discredit the group, which at the time had become a thorn in the flesh of the government, referred to the group as a franchise.
The group’s leaders, Hadiza Usman and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, hoping to set the records straight, did not waste time to send out a press statement two days later.
According to the statement, “This is a dangerous and unprecedented attack, because as is well known in security circles, the term ‘franchise’ is used to refer to inter-related terrorist cells. It is clear from these comments that the security agencies are setting up the movement for a crackdown based on trumped up accusations.
“Far from seeking to undermine the efforts of the security agencies, we seek to enhance it and make it more robust and effective. Our concerns about the lack of results so far, 87 days after these girls have been abducted, are aimed at motivating the security agencies to more effective action.”
Few days after the exchanges, exactly 100 days after the abduction and no result, child activist, Malala Yousafzai, challenged President Jonathan to fulfill his responsibilities as the leader of the country. The young girl asked the president to meet with the missing girls’ families.
Soon after the meeting, the president met the distraught parents. But the meeting failed to yield any positive result, as the hungry parents were left to fight over the ‘monetary gift’ by the president.
By the 130th day, the Chairman of the Abuja Chibok community, Hosea Tsambido, lamented the uncertain fate of the girls. She said the parents had lost their voice crying for their missing daughters. He also said the people were tired of being killed and maimed on a daily basis by the insurgents. The parents, he said, were ready to lead the attack on the insurgents, not minding losing their daughters, because of the claim by President Jonathan that security forces were unable to storm the Sambisa Forest, the known stronghold of the insurgents, because of the fear of harming the girls in the process.
“The parents are saying that it is better for them to bring the girls back, even if it means as corpses, so that they will bury them properly. They can take care of Boko Haram so that they will not spread to other parts of the country to continue their menace.”
Exactly 180 days after the abduction, a member of the advocacy, Aisha Yusufu, in an interview to mark the 164 days of the sit -out, confirmed that though it is difficult leaving the comfort of her home to call for the girls to be rescued, she always remembers that, “I am fighting for the me that I was 23 years ago, who had nothing and just wanted to be educated so that I will make my life different. That is what is driving me today, because I know that if I give up on this fight, I am going to give up on the me that I am today.”
On the 16th of October, the Federal Government announced a ceasefire deal that got so many Nigerians excited. But no sooner was the announcement made than it became clear no such deal was ever reached with the Boko Haram. One of the parents of the girls, who saw through the lies, Ayuba Alamson, told The Nation that, “the ceasefire deal was for 2015 electioneering campaign and not the Chibok girls.”
But 10 months on without any hope of bringing the girls back, Hosea Tsambido, like most Nigerians, expressed serious doubt over the president’s promise that the girls would be home before the general elections in six weeks time.
“I have mixed feelings right now. Firstly, for 10 months, they could not rescue the girls. I doubt if the rescue will take place within the next 30 days. I’m afraid it may not happen.
“All the girls care about is to be reunited with their parents. Unfortunately, they are mixing the Chibok girls issue with their political issues. This is very bad; they should treat the two issues differently. It is sad to see the issue of the girls being mixed with politics.”
Also speaking on the Presidential Media Chat, a member of the group, Aisha Yusufu, while speaking with The Nation, said: “When the President was asked about the Chibok girls, he did not deem it fit to sympathise or empathise with the parents whose daughters had been missing for 303 days. Unfortunately, that was an opportunity for him to reach out to the parents to reassure them personally, but the President is not taking this personal. He needs to take it personal. These are children that are missing. I’m sure that if they were his biological daughters, he will not treat the issue of the Chibok girls like this.
“When he was asked about the girls, it was as if it was an irritating question to him. You heard what he said, ‘Yea, I will not give you a specific date so that you won’t hold me to my words,’ I mean, that he is not taking it personal. Honestly, he should have reached out to the Chibok parents during the media chat. These are parents that have been crying for their missing children at that time for 303 days.“
