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Tag: Dapchi

  • Dapchi and the search for meaning

    Dapchi and the search for meaning

    A horrific nightmare? A national embarrassment? A national shame? What is Dapchi? How does one even start making sense of a senseless occurrence? Indeed, a recurrence! How does a government that rode to power on the adjudged weakness of an incumbent government defend itself against a reasonable charge of weakness and ineptitude? What goes round comes round!

    In the face of a mounting evidence of self-generated crises, does a loyal supporter pretend visual or hearing impairment? Or mental incapacity? Not now! After the truth is canvassed privately without effect, a self-respecting conscientious rational being has a responsibility to his or her conscience to speak truth to power publicly. In 2003, after “A Mad March”, I called out on “Those Who Must Speak Now”. Now I count myself as one among those who must speak now.

    Call it what you may. Deja vu it is not. This present, like the recent past, is real. This is not a fantastic psychiatric recall of an illusory experience from the past. We were there at Chibok only four years ago and the memory is still fresh with us all, especially with survivors and grieving parents and relations of the lost. Did we then not make a vow that it will never happen again? How did the ball get dropped and who did it?

    The wise admonish us that when a people fail to learn from experience, they are inevitably condemned to repeat it. How did we fail to learn from the experience of Chibok?

    Chibok was four years ago in April 2014 when Boko Haram terrorists abducted more than 250 young girls from their boarding house. They were sexually assaulted and exploited. At tender ages, away from their parents, their abductors hawked them as sex slaves. They mothered their children against their will. For three years, attempts to get them released and rejoined with their families failed amid partisan political jabs. Candidate Buhari and APC won the general election of 2015 with a promise to rescue the Chibok girls and end the menace of Boko Haram.

    The Buhari administration hit the ground running and in the first few weeks of inauguration it ordered Service Chiefs to relocate to the Northeast. That was greeted with relief and appreciation. The military reported progress and soon many of the Chibok girls regained their freedom, though the trauma of the ordeal, including forced motherhood, couldn’t be erased. At least, there was a national sigh of relief with a presidential promise to resettle the survivors and pursue the culprits till the scourge is permanently extinguished. Now this!

    If anything was learnt from Chibok, it was that terrorists had an easy access to the school because there was no security presence there. The police were not a match for the sophisticated weapons of the terrorists. There was no military presence. Therefore, it made sense that the military was deployed to Dapchi for the protection of the young students at the Dapchi College of Science and Technology. That was a strategic move that deterred the terrorists.

    In addition, between 2015 and 2017, the military and other security forces succeeded in the coordinated operation against Boko Haram. Unfortunately, that success had been misconstrued to mean complete routing. Apparently, someone prematurely declared “Mission Accomplished” and withdrew the army from Dapchi.

    Was it a case of political intrigue to embarrass the administration ahead of 2019? I know some within the party and the administration might be tempted to think along this line. But they should perish the thought and avoid going there because they mocked similar thinking four years ago. And frankly, to go there is to admit to the charge of ineptitude. For why couldn’t a competent administration invest thought and resources in foiling any political intrigue on the part of the opposition or other malcontents?

    If you knew that an earth-shaking occurrence took place a year to the last election and it cost the ruling party the election, does it not stand to reason that you would arm yourself against a similar occurrence under your watch? Who are the insiders of the Rock that strategize about the good of the president and the nation? Who are the security advisers? What explanation is forthcoming from the Minister of Defence? And the Minister of Internal Affairs? Are these the President’s men in whom he is well-pleased? Surely, they couldn’t be accomplices in any scheme to embarrass him! Or can they?

    So are the Service Chiefs. Indeed, some mischievous observers would see poetic justice boldly scripted in a chapter of this episode. Has the President not been recently accused of staffing the Defence headquarters with his people? Can they be implicated in a plot to embarrass him? Or are they just incompetent?

    The death of a baby is responsible for the mother’s plight in the hands of her tormentors. Unfortunately, when an administration that was celebrated at inception as the patron saint of peace and security appears to have lost its ward, it unwittingly energizes mockers and tormentors. Having succumbed to the clever tackle of the terrorists, it has opened the space of reproach to small indignities. Hear PDP and company! And wait in vain for APC publicity crew’s response. Mischief!

    The national outcry against the obvious shoddy handling of the farmer-herdsmen conflict was still raging with little progress toward its resolution. It was already being characterized as the Boko Haram of APC without knowing that the real Boko Haram of APC was around the corner. Three years into the life of the administration, the initial teething problem can no longer be an excuse. The actual practice of lunacy is shortchanged when the preparation for it takes forever.

    It didn’t help that, like 2014, the initial administration reaction was utterly confusing. “Thank God, students were not abducted. Oh! we are sorry students were actually abducted.” “But thanks to the military, abducted students have been released. Oh! too bad, abducted students have not been released.” It is anybody’s guess how parents and loved ones were supposed to handle the confusion. Do we care about our children and their parents?

    Unlike 2014, however, reason prevailed in quick succession. Cabinet members were sent to Yobe on fact-finding mission. The President ordered the military chiefs to relocate to the sector and he promised parents that their children will be returned to them, a promise that he cannot afford to break.

    Seeking the presidency is seeking a legacy for party and candidate. For the party, it is about placing its vision for the nation at the center, working hard to have it realized within the time it has, and hoping that it becomes engrained in the fabric of the nation.

    A political party’s vision could be the establishment of a security infrastructure that keeps the people safe for a long time. It could be a welfare program that takes seriously the burden of social life on people and relieves it on their behalf. It could be a vision of a structure that takes account of the diversity of the population and seeks to make it more productive of harmony in the long run. Having bought into the vision of the party, the presidential candidate is expected to promote it and implement it to its logical conclusion. At this point in the life of the administration, it is not too early to ask, what will be its legacy?

    Surely, there have been some achievements. The economy is improving. Foreign reserve is rising. Corruption is being attacked. Citizens normally expect these of any administration. Securing a legacy requires more. And for that more, attention must be paid to the various strands in the fabric of the party. Are leaders working at cross purposes? If so, can there ever be an alignment of leadership and followership?  When egocentric and ethnocentric leaders pursue their self-interest at the expense of party solidarity and victory; when they poohpooh the concept and practice of internal democracy and the grassroot revolt; if the party fails in the end, what is their gain? Or is their plan to jump ship before it hits the iceberg?

     

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  • UN demands release of 110 Dapchi schoolgirls

    UN demands release of 110 Dapchi schoolgirls

    Probe panel begins sitting

    Air Force explains action

    ‘Don’t withdraw pupils’

    The United Nations (UN) yesterday demanded that the abductors of the 110 pupils of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State should release them immediately.

    Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he “very much hopes that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, and just as importantly, that the girls will be found and returned to safety”.

    “I think the fact that these young women were abducted in an educational setting, where they should have been safe, where they should feel safe, just adds to the horror of the story.”

    In a statement by his spokesperson, Mr Stephane Dujarric, Guiteres said he was gravely concerned over the situation.

    The UN chief urged the Nigerian authorities to swiftly bring those responsible for this dastardly act to justice.

    Guterres reiterated the solidarity and support of the UN to the Nigerian Government and other affected countries in the region in their fight against terrorism and violent extremism.

    The UN had earlier described the abduction as “another horrific incident where young women and girls are targeted by terror groups”.

    Yesterday in Abuja, National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno inaugurated a 12-man panel to look into the circumstances leading to the kidnap of the girls, which he said  did not portray Nigeria in good light.

    Monguno said: “The abduction of the schoolgirls by the terrorists is a worrisome incident that requires deliberate, urgent and relentless efforts on the part of government.

    “There has been conflicting reports from various quarters on the event that led to the abduction, the number of persons abducted, as well as their identity.

    “This does not portray the country in good light. There have also been reports, especially in the social media, which tend to support some level of inactivity by relevant organisations.

    “Therefore, there is a need to verify the circumstances surrounding the abduction of these girls from the Government Girls Secondary School.”

    Monguno listed the committee’s terms of reference. They are:

    • determine the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the students from the school on the 18th of February;
    • determine the exact number of persons abducted alongside their identity as there are conflicting reports in this regard;
    • confirm the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security emplaced in Dapchi, as well as the school itself before the incident;
    • ascertain the existing communication in the Dapchi and their functionality;
    • suggest measures that can lead to the location and immediate rescue of the abducted girls; and
    • to recommend measure to be emplaced in preventing future occurrences, and any other detail the committee may deem necessary.

    “Considering the importance of the issue and the urgency required to promptly address the terms of reference and associated concerns, you are to commence sitting immediately and submit your report to me in two weeks, “ Monguno told the committee.

    He urged the members “to be objective in their findings in order to address this ugly development”.

    The NSA went on: “I must emphasis here also that there is a lot of cynicism outside in the wider society.

    “This is not the first time such incident has taken place. On the 14th of April, 2014, a lot of girls were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok.

    “A committee was set by the previous administration to look into the circumstances that led to the abduction of those girls.

    “What I want to emphasis to you is that this investigation has to be done with all the seriousness it deserves. This is not going to be another exercise in futility. We are using the money of tax payers to carry out this assignment and they are entitled to getting results for whatever this committee does.

    “Again, the inclination to push things under the carpet, to be sympathetic to groups or organisations will not be tolerated. You must unravel everything. Where people are culpable, it should come out in your report.”

    The NSA said “the report also will be followed by a white paper”. “The President is extremely concerned about this incident which I have already told you, is beginning to cast a dark shadow on not just the administration but the country.

    “The truth of the matter is that security is all-embracing. It is not just for agencies of government.

    “There is always an interface between the wider society and security agencies, especially in the context of the 21st  century issues of insecurity. This time around, your work is going to permeate into the population, not just in Yobe State, probably in Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe states and so on and so forth.”

    He added that “the basic motivation in this very exercise is to get result. I want results; this is not just going to be something theoretical, paper or suggestions that will end up on someone’s desk without anything happening.

    “We must let the people of Nigeria know that we have taken this incident with all the seriousness it requires and we are going to solve this problem.

    “I wouldn’t want a situation whereby you are going to be suppressed by any individual, any group or organisation or agency because we are not going to allow anybody to cover up anything in this matter.

    “These are people’s children, our children and we must be seen to be doing the right thing.”

    The chairman of the committee, Real Admiral Victor Adedipe, assured the NSA of the members’ commitment to ensuring that the findings are authentic and unbiased.

  • Dapchi as failure of leadership

    Dapchi as failure of leadership

    Governments exist primarily for the protection of lives and properties of the governed. Sadly in spite of President Buhari’s giant strides in his crusade against corruption, revamping of the economy and ending the nation’s drift after 16 years of impunity, the February 19 carting away of 110 students of Government Girls’ Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in 11 trucks by suspected Boko Haram terrorists in military fatigues, was but a confirmation that all that has been going on  either in Abuja or Damaturu, Yobe State, were nothing but motion without movement with little or no governance

    The president decision to beg the traumatised parents of the abducted girls was at least an admission that the buck stops at his table. However, his description of Dapchi as tragedy  while the April 14, 2014 abduction of 214 Chibok schoolgirls which formed part of the President 2015 campaign promises was yet to be resolved and on the heels of  an ongoing mindless killing  and sacking of communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen across the country, as ‘a national disaster’ was an understatement. It was a national embarrassment, or as Isha Sesay of CNN puts it – “a national disgrace”.

    Both President Buhari and Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State should be held responsible for the Dapchi tragedy. It was all about failure of leadership. This often finds expression in absence of governance. By governing with a mind-set of an emir while delegating governance to his unelected aides that from their actions and pronouncements, are widely believed to harbour anti-Nigeria agenda, the president has betrayed the nation. Yobe’s Gaidam, like his predecessors in office was also until recently opposed to state and community policing. This reactionary mind-set cannot be said to be borne out of a desire to safeguard the interest of the governed in Yobe State.

    A people that fail to learn from history, as the Chinese say, will be punished by history. Apparently not much lesson has been learnt from the failure of ex-President Jonathan by the Buhari administration if anything, criticism of his handling of the Chibok tragedy as it has now turned out, was an excuse for in-effective governance. It has now taken a government that blamed its failure to rescue all the Chibok girls on Jonathan’s foot-dragging within the first 24 hours of the Chibok tragedy, several days before “urging Nigerians, including the rural dwellers who might have information that could lead to the location of the girls, to bring such information to the attention of the military authorities?” But Nigerians would want to know the measures put in place by the minister of internal affairs and his counterpart, in defence to protect the girls’ school – a soft target for Boko Haram insurgents in the north? What happened to the DSS officials whose duties were to carry out covert activities for other security arms? Where were the police and military joint checkpoints when 11 trucks laden with priceless Dapchi girls sped through our ‘borderless’ borders to Niger far away from Nigerian territory we were told was secured a long time ago?

    The military has also denied Governor Ibrahim Gaidam’s allegation that “prior to the attack, the army units stationed in Dapchi and Bayamari towns were removed”. But I think the military owes their commander-in-chief and by extension Nigerians, an explanation on why a military formation located only 30 kilometres from the scene of the tragedy needed the president’s directive several days later before sending “more troops and surveillance aircraft to keep an eye on all movements in the entire territory on a 24-hour basis, in the hope that all the missing girls will be found?”

    If indeed there was anyone in charge before the tragedy, why did we need to resort to our usual ‘fire-brigade’ approach by declaring after the tragedy that “henceforth, the police and the Civil Defence Corps will ensure that their presence is strong in every school to serve as a deterrent to the insurgents?”

    Babagana Monguno, the National Security Adviser (NSA) who announced deployment of 100 jet fighters to search for the missing girls eight days after the tragedy and  constituted a committee with  membership from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Police, Department of State Services (DSS); Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) “to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction”, should have done that two years back to forestall the Dapchi tragedy.  Monguno who lives in an analogue age has no business in modern government. And indeed if there is any form of governance going on in Abuja, he and others that have failed the nation ought to have by now tendered their letters of resignation if the president will not fire them.

    Similarly, the protection of lives and properties of the governed in spite of the constraints of our imperfect constitution is the core responsibility of elected governors. Unfortunately, with the exception of Lagos and a handful of others, many other state governors behave like parasites collecting huge allocations in addition to security votes from Abuja and turn around to blame the centre for their security challenges. That Governor Ibrahim Gaidam and his entourage were stoned by traumatised parents of the abducted girls was not just a vote of no confidence in his government, but sufficient proof that the governed also know their real enemies.

    It is on record that since the death of Ahmadu Bello, the revered northern premier in 1966, nearly all northern governors have continued to oppose community and state policing. Many observers believe the only plausible explanation for this reactionary mind-set in an age when community policing has been adjudged as ideal for fighting municipal crimes and securing communities, is probably the desire of northern minority rulers to guarantee easy passage for their fellow Fulani cattle-grazing compatriots who live across Nigeria’s borders and who often become important variable during census, election and religious crisis that define Nigerian politics.

    They have cited the recent subtle support by some prominent northern emirs for herdsmen’s resistance to anti-grazing laws promulgated by some states. There was also the recent threat by the leadership of Miyetti Allah to invite Fulani herdsmen across West Africa to wage war on Nigeria if their demand for open grazing was not met. They have equally cited the case of an influential emir from the northeast who during the 2014 Confab told his colleagues during the debate on the national question that unlike them, he had an option of crossing over to join his fellow Fulani in northern Cameroon if Nigeria descended into chaos.

    Many informed Nigerians believe Dapchi tragedy could have been avoided if there had been community and state policing. It is not likely indigenes, unlike the military and the Nigeria police who are today trading blames after a monumental tragedy, would stand by and allow their daughters to be shipped away in 11 trucks by those who exhibit instincts worse than those of animals.

    Now the chicken has come home to roost. The nation is haunted by perfidy of those who allowed our nation to be infiltrated by jihadist in the guise of Fulani herdsmen. And more tragically, four weeks after an agreement between the Presidency, governors and lawmakers that state policing is the only answer to effective governance, beyond a consensus celebrated on pages of newspapers with howling headlines, there is no evidence any bill has been initiated.

  • Chibok, Dapchi…the evil goes on

    Chibok, Dapchi…the evil goes on

    IT SOUNDED far-fetch when the news broke in the night of Monday, February 19. It cannot happen again, we chorused, looking at one another as we shared the news of the abduction of another set of school girls in the Northeast. No, not after what happened in Chibok, Borno State, about four years ago. In our subconscious minds, we silently prayed that the news would not be true. But the abduction of over 100 pupils of the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi, Yobe State, was real.

    At first, the situation was confusing. The police initially denied that the girls were abducted. According to the police, they were missing. Some, they claimed, had run back home following the invasion of their school by Boko Haram. That was on Monday night. By Tuesday, things started to fall in place bit by bit. It had become clearer that something sinister happened at the school that fateful Monday. With the Chibok incident still fresh in our memory, the police were cautious in talking on the matter. They did not want to release more information than they should in order not to create panic.

    Unknown to them, with the world now a global village because of the social media, the news had  spread like wildfire. Whether or not the government was willing to release information, the public got information anyway and from diverse sources. Initially reports said 94 of the girls could not be accounted for; they were not among those who ran back home from school. No fewer than 906 of them were said to be in school that night. Some ran into the bush; some ran into nearby houses and yet others took to wherever their legs could carry them just to escape from the insurgents.

    With the 2014 Chibok experience and what happened in Bunu Yadi also in Yobe State in 2013, where some schoolboys were killed, still so fresh, a government that cares about its people, especially the future of its young ones, would have taken steps to prevent a recurrence of incidents like this. It is a big slap on the government’s  face  that Boko Haram could still storm a school and abduct pupils with ease despite its claim that it has clipped the sect’s wing. What happened in Dapchi on February 19 has turned that claim on its head. Troops may have levelled Sambisa Forest, the Boko Haram headquarters, to Ground Zairo, but it seems  they have not curtailed the sect’s power to do evil.

    It is sad that Boko Haram still has enormous power to raid schools and villages as well as  ambush exploratory research teams and troops and abduct people in the process. More still needs to be done in the battle against Boko Haram. Can we still describe it as a battle? The answer is no. It has become a war, which the nation must win at all costs if the kidnapping and killing of pupils must stop. The  insurgents must be laughing at us now wherever they are holding the girls. Our troops paved the way for them to strike on February 19 by letting their guards down.

    When fighting a sect like Boko Haram, you must be at alert every second, every minute. You must not leave your flank open. Troops were said to be stationed about 30 kilometres from the school. They were deployed there to guard the school and prevent the kind of thing that happened  on February 19. But that day, they left for another mission, without a thought for the safety of the GGSTC girls. I am a novice in the art of war, but I do not think that is how to prosecute a war, whether conventional or unconventional. You do not move all your troops from one front at a go, without making provision for the safety of those in your charge.

    Those girls were the state’s charge and those troops had no right to expose them to danger under the guise of moving to another front. What is in that front that is more important than the lives of those  vulnerable 906 schoolgirls? Shouldn’t some troops have been left behind to secure the girls? Come to think of it, are we sure that some of these troops are not working with the insurgents? How did the insurgents know that the soldiers will not be at their base 30 kilometres away from the school that night?

    Now that the government has obtained the actual number of abducted girls – 110 – everything must be done to bring them back. Unlike the Chibok case, where the nation was caught flat-footed, our troops unarguably  opened their flank for Boko Haram to abduct the Dapchi girls right under our nose. It is unfortunate that this is happening under an administration in which we pinned so much hope at the outset. Was it misplaced? The administration has a lot to do to win back the people’s trust. It can start by bringing back the Dapchi girls and all those abducted before them.

    If only the troops had not left their position, what happened that night would have been averted. There is no way the sect would have had the audacity to strike knowing that troops were not that far away. It could have been a pre-arranged attack for all I care because the insurgents took their time in carrying out their dastardly act. One of the girls, Aishatu Abdullahi, who escaped, said they were preparing to break their usual Monday fast when the insurgents struck. The senior school pupil told the online paper, Premiun Times: “They (insurgents) were shooting guns and everyone was confused; then we started running helter-skelter, but they were able to get some girls. We saw some people pushing some of the students to enter their vehicles. There were no soldiers at the time of the invasion.

    “They came in three trucks.  Some of the other girls ran with some of our teachers to a house near the school… we had to enter and hide inside the house; all of us that escaped, including our principal. The vice principal and some other teachers stayed in the deserted house till morning’’. So, the insurgents had all the time in the world to wreak havoc on the school because there was no superior force to stop them. How can we explain this – that the government abandoned 926 vulnerable girls at the time they needed it most? It is inexplicable. It is sad; so, so sad.

  • What went wrong in Dapchi?

    What went wrong in Dapchi?

    Many women were sobbing, their hands on their heads. Some just sat there on the bare ground, dejected and disillusioned. Others were just gazing at nothing in particular, their arms clasped around their waists in total resignation to the fate that had befallen them. The men were also crying and yelling, even as they tried to console their distraught women. The full picture of the communal tragedy was unfolding.

    It was a day of agony in Dapchi, the Yobe State town where Boko Haram snatched off more than 100 girls in a night raid on February 19. Governor Ibrahim Gaidam was visiting to console the parents and offer them a shoulder to cry on. What a calamitous way for a humble town to hit global prominence!

    In Abuja, the President described the abduction as a national disaster. It is that and more – an assault on national pride and innocence of childhood. Abuja sent a delegation to the grief-stricken town to find out what went wrong. Just then the blame game began.

    Gaidam said the military’s sudden withdrawal from the town paved the way for the abduction. If the military had been there, the governor said, such a brazen attack would not have been possible.

    The army said it had driven the insurgents out of the area, handed over a peaceful town to the police and moved on to other operations. The police would not carry the can. It denied that it was ever handed the town to keep and guard against any assault.

    So, what went wrong? Who was in charge? Was Dapchi left to its own devices?

    The security agencies have set up a panel to answer this billion Naira question, which may linger for some time, even after our innocent girls have been brought – or bought – back. Again, what went wrong?

    What happened to good old community intelligence hands who would inform the authorities about such a looming tragedy before it landed at the door? The  goons were said to have come in about 11 trucks. How did such a convoy of evil roll all the way from Sambisa – sorry for that slip; we conquered that place a long time ago – or wherever into Dapchi without anybody raising the alarm?

    Is it true that the Defence Headquarters had warned about an impending attack before the terrorists struck? In other words, can we just rule out failure of intelligence? Was the army’s response to the abduction swift? Or did we just try to shut the stable after the horse had escaped?

    Who ordered the withdrawal of troops? On what basis? Was Dapchi actually out of harm’s way? Is the Area Commander still convinced that he took the right decision? Was there a deliberate action to embarrass the Muhammadu Buhari administration that has been touting security as one of its achievements, with Boko Haram’s defeat as its glittering trophy?

    Are there saboteurs in the military? Who are the facilitators of those ambushes against federal troops?  Did Dapchi result from sheer complacency? Incompetence? Fatigue? An error of judgment? Indiscretion? The devil-may-care attitude of our men?  (material here expendable).

    Winning a few battles is no indication that the war is over. In fact, there is also the peace to be won. We have heard that Boko Haram has been “defeated”, “decimated” and “vanquished”. Yes. Nevertheless, the war is not over. The group’s fiendish leaders are alive and kicking. So long as they remain on their feet, it will be premature and unhelpful to declare that Boko Haram has been crushed.

    President Buhari has promised that the girls will be back in the loving arms of their parents. When? Soon? Later? One month? One year? Years? We can’t really say. What seems clear is that the government is willing to pay any price for the girls’ freedom. Department of State  Services (DSS) chief Lawal Daura told the President while presenting some freed Boko Haram victims, including the University of Maiduguri teachers abducted while searching for oil in the Lake Chad Basin, that the agency negotiated the release of the abductees, because any attempt to get them out by force could endanger their lives.

    We have been inadvertently shelling out part of the cash that keeps the terror machine roaring.  Will Boko Haram stop now that it knows how lucrative its evil trade is?  (Material bordering on national security taken out)

    Is this an admission of the fact that force won’t work? If so, why don’t we set up talks with the terrorists, grant them a general amnesty and end it all? Will they agree to a ceasefire? What future for these enemies of peace who have sold their souls to Satan? Will they and their foot soldiers be normal again?

    Just as Nigeria was ruing the abduction of her girls, a woman was telling the CNN how she urged the police to do something about the gunman who mowed down 17 pupils in a Florida, United States school. The police told her nothing could be done since Nicholas Cruz,19, had not committed any offence. The police were caught in a dilemma.

    If they grabbed Cruz, they would be criticized for gross human rights abuse. If they did nothing and Cruz struck – as he eventually did – they would be accused of doing nothing. They erred on the side of caution.  The society paid dearly for that.

    Again, did we get any intelligence report on Dapchi? Was such a report ignored?

    To the PDP and the Dr Goodluck Jonathan crowd of merrymakers, it is time to gloat; isn’t it? Not so fast.  What did the Jonathan presidency do when the news of the Chibok girls’ abduction was broken? It responded with a roaring silence. By the time it decided to move, it thrust the former First Lady forward. She launched an inquisition that became the subject of a sickening but popular comic relief amid the unprecedented tragedy.

    Besides, the Jonathan administration plunked down millions for the Chibok girls to be freed. The cash went down the drain. It was duped.

    I was moved by the plea of Hajia Alkali Wakil (aka Mama Boko Haram) to the Abu Musab Al-Barnawi-led faction of the terror sect. She urged the terrorists to free the girls and surrender their arms.

    “I will go after them even if it will take my life to save these girls. They call me mummy but they don’t listen to me… Dear Habib, Nuru and others,” she said.                          “I was told you may be the ones responsible for the kidnap of these girls. I beg you to release the girls to their mothers. What kind of children will continue letting their mother to continue crying. Dear Habib, I pray Allah touches your heart and that of your colleagues to stop what you are doing.”

    Do terrorists surrender to emotions? Are their hearts not too clogged with evil designs? Do they have any space left for the plea of a woman they call “mummy”? Where are their biological mothers?

    When all else fails, what do we do?

    Just pray, like Hajia Wakil.

  • Dapchi: Yobe State Government and the rest of us

    The abduction of over 90 girls in a secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State, is unfortunate.

    More embarrassing however, is the bid by the Yobe State Government to try shrug blame off its shoulder to blame another by saying it is the withdrawal of the military from the area that was responsible for the incident.

    The explanation does not just add up because the more the state government tries to point its fingers elsewhere, the more the rest of the four fingers are asking it to do a little bit of self-examination.
    By saying the abduction occurred because the military withdrew troops from the area is like playing a broken record which sends out some fuzzy sound but fails to strike a rhythm.
    For a governor who continues to receive security votes, this is counter intuitive as it portrays him as a political office holder who does not know the demands of the office he occupies or what the votes are meant for.

    For a state that has been under threats of terrorists for several years and which was only liberated through concerted military actions, it defies logic that at the slightest chance of security breach, the governor would try to impugn on the role the military has played in securing lives and property in Yobe and other states.
    For the avoidance of doubt, the military in the current administration, has done a lot for which the Yobe State Government should be grateful for.

    Before the current administration, the insurgents have captured as much as three local governments in Yobe and have made one of them a base from where they from to time enter into the state capital of Damaturu to unleash mayhem; so much so that it became unsafe for even the governor to stay in the state capital.

    The height of this threat was the takeover of the Government House by the insurgents in one of such attacks until they were flushed out by the combined military operation at the place.

    The military has several times engaged insurgents in fierce fights in the past in both Damaturu and other towns in Yobe and has succeeded in driving them away to the relief of residents.

    Through strategies and continuous actions, the military has weakened their base, scattered their lot, destroyed their weapons and captured their commandants.
    The liberation of territories by troops has made it possible for the state government to conduct its business under a peaceful atmosphere and carry out some projects which wouldn’t have been possible if not for the sacrifice of the military.
    What happened in Dapchi as unfortunate as it was, could be said to be more due to the pampered disposition of the authorities in Yobe and its inability to appreciate the fact a lot lies with them in securing its citizens and that the task of effective security cannot be outsourced wholesale to a federal agency as the immediate communities have relevant roles to play.

    Much as the military can be called upon to intervene in terms of crisis, the prevention of such incidence lies with the political and civil authorities.
    It is common knowledge in military operations that when a troop enters and frees a territory, what remains is for the civil authority to mobilize and organize the place to ensure a return to normalcy and forstall a likely breach.
    These are achieved through actions such as monitoring and constant assessment of the situation using the police and other security agencies, coordination of intelligence gathering and data as well as instituting framework to sustain the peace.
    But with the benefit of hindsight, it appears the Yobe State Government did none of that but was waiting for the military to mount a 24|7 sentry which is not possible given the number of places that require military presence in the face of security challenges in the country.
    The Yobe State Government knowing fully well that the dregs of the insurgents still abound, should not have allowed a concentration of school girls at a place without adequately making security arrangements.
    Aside that, since the issue of the terrorists has become a recurring decimal in that axis, one would have expected that a security buffer should have been stationed for quick mobilization whenever there is an unforeseen attack.
    But is seems the Yobe State Government only wants to be pampered while it glosses over its own responsibilities.
    But the time for trading blame has passed, what is required now is for genuine commitment towards rescuing the girls and this is where the full cooperation of the government and the people of Yobe is needed.
    As this is going on efforts must be made to secure other places using intelligence and civil order because there is no way the military can be in all the communities in Yobe all year round.

    Ainoko is a public affairs analyst and contributed this piece from Kaduna.

  • Dapchi Girls: Stop the blame game, Dogara tells Army, Police

    Dapchi Girls: Stop the blame game, Dogara tells Army, Police

    Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Tuesday, asked security agencies to take responsibility for failing to stop the abduction of 110 schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe, on Feb. 19.

    He said that the buck-passing between the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force was unacceptable.

    In a statement by Mr Turaki Hassan, his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Dogara said rather than trading blames, the security agencies should strengthen inter-agency collaboration towards rescuing the girls.

    He said that the statements credited to the Army and the Police in which they tried to exonerate themselves from any culpability in the unfortunate abduction of the girls from their school were highly condemnable.

    “This is unacceptable and the House of Representatives, and indeed Nigerians, will hold the security agencies responsible. They all bear responsibility for this unfortunate incident.

    “The traumatic experience of the Chibok abduction which is still fresh in our minds should have served as a warning signal to security agencies to provide adequate protection to all schools in the North-East.

    “I want to use this medium to console the parents of the abducted girls and the entire Dapchi community over this unfortunate incident.

    “I also urge all Nigerians and people of goodwill from all over to pray for the safe return of the girls,” Dogara said.

  • Dapchi Girls: ACF asks FG to review security architecture

    Dapchi Girls: ACF asks FG to review security architecture

    Mouthpiece of Northern Nigeria, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has asked the Federal Government to review its security architecture over the the recent abduction of secondary school girls in Dapchi, Yobe State.

    This was also as the forum described the blame game between the Yobe State government officials and the Military on one hand and among security agencies on the other over the abduction as unnecessary and unhelpful.

    While describing the abduction as wicked and callous, ACF in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu however urged the military and other security agencies to deploy all resources at their disposal including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the rescue of the abducted girls.

    According to the statement, “Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is saddened over the unfortunate circumstance that led to the abduction of about 100 female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi in Yobe State by some suspected Boko Haram terrorists last week.

    Read Also: Police in control of Dapchi security, says Army

    “This ugly incidence similar to the abduction of the Chibok girls barely four years ago is wicked and callous.

    “ACF shares the pains and trauma the parents of the girls, government and people of Yobe State and indeed Nigerians are going through and pray for their safe rescue and return to their parents soon.

    “ACF urges the Military and other Security Agencies to deploy all resources at their disposal including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to the rescue of the abducted girls.

    “The blame game between the Yobe State government officials and the Military on one hand and among security agencies on the other over this unfortunate incidence is unnecessary and unhelpful.

    “All hands should therefore be on deck to ensure that the girls are rescued. The stories that the abducted girls were ferried across our borders or within some locations in Nigeria, should not be ignore for possible link to the whereabouts of the girls.” ACF said.

    As part of efforts to forestall recurrence of the Dapchi incident, the forum therefore advised the Federal Government to review its security architecture especially in the Northeast zone.

    “ACF therefore calls upon the Federal Government to review its security architecture especially in the Northeast zone by sustaining security surveillance and intelligence in order to avoid a repeat of the Dapchi episode.” It said.

     

  • Dapchi: Muslim groups condemn abduction of girls

    Dapchi: Muslim groups condemn abduction of girls

    •Seek investigation into troops’ withdrawal

    Prominent Islamic organisations – The Muslim Congress (TMC) and Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) yesterday condemned the abduction of 110 girls of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State last Monday.

    In a separate statement, the groups described the incident as unfortunate.

    MURIC Director Prof Ishaq Akintola said the attack has exposed Boko Haram terrorists as a despicable bunch of cowards who turn their guns on unarmed innocent girls and the most vulnerable members of society.

    Akintola said: “Once again, Boko Haram terrorists have proved that they have nothing in common with Nigerian Muslims. The abduction of Dapchi school girls is a flagrant violation of Islamic rules of engagement which forbid attacks on women, children and old people during hostilities. Islamic rules concerning wars are so humane that even trees and livestock belonging to the enemy must be spared.

    “But as usual, Boko Haram manifested ignorance of Islamic etiquette by attacking an educational institution where young girls are concentrated. The forceful kidnap of 276 Chibok girls on April 14, 2014 readily comes to mind and the various acts of forceful conversion and marriage of some of the girls remain objectionable, and alien to the tenets of Islam.

    “Nonetheless, MURIC is worried by the similarity in coincidental circumstances in the Chibok and Dapchi abductions. Both attacks occurred a week after troops was withdrawn from the towns. Even the 2013 massacre of 29 students in a secondary school in Buni Yadi by Boko Haram a week after the withdrawal of troops arouses our curiousity…

    “We call for an urgent investigation into the withdrawal of troops from Dapchi barely a week before the attack. We charge the Nigerian military to put other soft spots in the North East under close watch. We implore Nigerians from all walks of life to pray for the safe and early return of all the missing girls.”

    TMC President Dr Lukman AbdurRaheem said it is disheartening when those abducted in Chibok have not been fully released.

    AbdurRaheem said: “A thousand and one questions beg for answers! Are politicians playing politics with our lives?  Where is the Governor as the Chief Security Officer of Yobe with huge security vote? Is the Police Commissioner sleeping? Where were the military men seconded to that axis?  Is this a case of the fifth columnist in action?

    It is our considered opinion that those in the positions of power should learn from history and be alive to their responsibilities. To whom much is given, much is expected. We have surrendered our liberty to government and we pay taxes for running the state. It is therefore important for our lives and property to be protected.”

    He blamed the military for abandoning that spot.

    “The incident calls for urgent investigation. TMC advises Federal Government to be courageous by using a 15-day ultimatum to the military and other security agencies to return all the missing girls,” he said.

     

  • Video: All abducted persons will be rescued safely – Buhari assures

    Video: All abducted persons will be rescued safely – Buhari assures

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured Nigerians that all abducted persons by insurgent groups including the schoolgirls from the Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe, would be rescued safely.

    Buhari stated this  when he received three rescued lecturers of University of Maiduguri and the 10 Police Officers’ wives at the presidential villa, Abuja.

    He noted that the  rescue of his visitors  on Feb. 10 was a `very huge relief’ to him and to all Nigerians.

    Cue in audio – Buhari

    “Let me clearly reiterate the resolve of this administration to ensure all persons abducted by insurgents are rescued or released safely.

    “This is especially against the back drop of the recent sad incident where another group of girls were abducted on Feb. 19 from the Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe.

    “I have since directed all security agencies to immediately ensure that every effort is directed to ensure safety of our schools and students as well as bringing back the abducted girls to their families,’’ he said.

    https://soundcloud.com/thenationnewspaper/all-abducted-persons-will-be-rescued-safely-president-buhari-assures

    The president told the rescued persons that apart from their family members, every peace loving Nigerian prayed for their safety and wished them early release from the hold of their abductors.

    “While government was fully aware of the expectations of your families and the general public for their immediate freedom, the path to your freedom was painstaking and protracted.

    “This was because the group responsible for your abduction was not in a particular location but based in different locations that if not properly handled could result in dire consequences,’’ he added.

    He thanked all the various security agencies for their professionalism throughout the process of arranging their freedom.

    He also lauded other agencies of government, sister nations in the Lake Chad region, the International Committee of the Red Cross who had contributed to their safe release.

    Buhari said that the federal government would also work closely with all stakeholders such as the United Nations, donor agencies and voluntary organisations towards rehabilitating and resettling all those displaced as a result of the activities of the insurgents.

    [jwplayer yW2U6NEE]

    On one of the abductees, Jummai Ibrahim, who was about to complete her service year when the incident occurred, the President said: “I suppose the NYSC should give a certificate of discharge to the person that spent the remaining of her Service somewhere else (with abductors).’’

    In his remarks, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Alhaji Lawal Daura, said the abducted NYSC Corp member would have passed out with the last batch in 2017.

    He disclosed that the DSS had chosen the path of negotiation for the release of the victims because it was considered as the safest.

    According to him, any forceful attempt to rescue the victims could endanger their lives.

    He said: “These negotiations took several months and the Department of State Services with support of the external elements of the group in diaspora and support from friendly countries and liaising with International Community of the Red Cross, made the rescue possible.

    “The process was slow due to the problem of dealing with two different groups based in different locations at the same time.

    “In addition, the negotiations took place mostly outside the country, though subsequently finalized in the theatre of operations.’’

    He further explained that the negotiations were mainly centred on an attempt at conflict mitigation which included the fate of arrested members of the insurgent groups especially, accepting to those found not to be culpable in any criminal action.

    The DG further maintained that the negotiation was also centred on the possibility of granting amnesty to those willing to surrender and ready to lay down their arms.

    Dr Solomon Yusuf, who spoke on behalf of the abductees, thanked the government and all Nigerians for ensuring their release.

    He said: “While we were in captivity and we said with 180 million or more Nigerians, will Nigeria ever come to rescue us! We lost hope.

    “Sir, you surprised us. After seven months for us in the university and eight months for the 10 ladies, Nigeria rescued us. This shows that the life of every Nigerian is important and is worth rescuing.

    “Sir, we are grateful. You gave us hope when there was no hope And we are excited, we thank you Sir.

    “We also want to appreciate the DSS, the Nigerian armed forces, and the entire team that worked together to make sure we regained our freedom.’’ (NAN)