After three years in Boko Haram captivity, the release of 82 of the Chibok girls a fortnight ago, no doubt, gladdened the hearts of many. The ecstasy generated by that incident was understandable given the trauma both the girls and their parents have passed through these three years.
Because the lives of the young girls were in jeopardy, there was the general feeling that anything could be sacrificed to ensure their safety. When therefore the government announced that the release was made possible through the swapping of some Boko Haram commanders in their custody, it seemed the end had justified the means.
So it was that those who sought to raise reservations on the propriety of the prisoners’ swap were so disparaged that they could no longer find their voice. The furore that trailed attempts by the opposition to raise questions on the swap must have silenced them such that not much was heard of any criticism on the issue. They were made to appear insensitive to the feelings of the girls and their parents in the hands of the cruel and ruthless lot.
Parallels were swiftly drawn with the United States of America US and some other advanced countries which at the time or the other, applied that option to free their citizens taken captive in other countries. If such advanced countries could swap prisoners, what is wrong in Nigeria applying the same measure to secure the release of the Chibok girls from a deadly monster that gives scant attention to rules of engagement? – they queried.
With high level sentiments like this, the voice of the opposition was drowned to the extent that nobody again cared to ask why there was no measure of ceasefire while the negotiations leading to the swap lasted. Nobody again cared to ask, where and to whom the freed commanders were released? Nobody cared to ask what other commitments if any, were extracted from the group before the commanders were freed. These questions at best, remained mute or were discussed in muffled voices until the freed commanders appeared in a video armed with high calibre rifles threatening to attack Abuja and some critical institutions again.
And as people were still guessing on the authenticity of the video, the military authorities came out to confirm that those in the video were part of the commanders released under the prisoners’ swap. The military went further to urge the public to disregard their threat describing them as people who are seeking relevance having lost touch with the realities of the war. They also spoke of the measures they have taken to guarantee public safety. The advice and assurances can as well be.
But the episode has exposed the innate weaknesses in the arrangements leading to the swap. Besides, it has again brought to the fore the inappropriateness in shutting of the views of those who offered contrary opinions on the prisoners’ swap. If the freed commanders could so soon after, arm themselves with sophisticated weaponry, threatening the nation’s security, then the swap still leaves a sour taste in our mouths. It immediately conjures the impression that we have created monsters that will turn around to haunt us.
Beyond that however, it raises issues about the Sambisa forest which we were told has been overrun by our military. It tends to suggest at once that the forest still remains a very stronghold of the insurgents. Or, how else do we account for the ease with which the commanders integrated themselves to their old ways with easy access to weaponry with which they now issued threats in a video recording? It gives the impression of a well fortified and organized group that is not about to capitulate.
That is the unmistakable signals arising from the video show by the freed commanders. It speaks of minuses in the negotiations leading to their being swapped for the Chibok girls. We have been told arrangements are also afoot to get the remaining girls freed. It is hoped that this time around, the entire negotiations will centre round a comprehensive end to the insurgency since the war is said to be at its dying stages with the insurgents’ capacity for evil largely degraded.
Continuing suicide bombs attacks since the release of the girls and swap of the commanders do not give cause for comfort. The University of Maiduguri was last week attacked with some casualties. Elsewhere, the military has foiled suicide bomb attempts. There were also video images of some of the Chibok girls that refused to leave Boko Haram den wielding dangerous weapons. All these are sources of grave concern as they do not leave even the most optimistic in the comfort of mind that the war will peter out very soon.
Beyond these however, there are nagging questions that needed to be answered for the discerning public to get a proper perspective of the whole circumstances of the abduction, incarceration and release of the girls. This is necessary given complaints from the Chibok community on the secrecy surrounding the release and subsequent handling of those that have been freed. Chairman of the Chibok community in Abuja, Hosea Tsambido complained of the restrictions placed on the 21 girls released last year.
Apart from their not being allowed to interact freely and answer questions freely, he said the only thing the first group is being taught is how to bake cake, sing and clap. He has therefore demanded a probe into the 2014 abduction saga. Tsambido’s frustrations are not out of place. Before now, it was widely believed that part of the difficulties in securing a quick release of the girls was due to doubts by the Jonathan regime on the veracity of the abduction.
That doubt is yet to be reasonably cleared. Even though people have been reluctant to come public with it, references to the good health of the 82 released girls especially in the social media point to raging scepticisms on the abduction saga. With the pictures we have seen of the freed girls, it would seem the insurgents treated and fed them very well. It is not a tale of haggard-looking, emaciated and abused girls. Neither did it depict a spectacle of those who lived in a dreaded forest for good three years.
Some of them are looking better than those of us living in the comfort of our homes. Little wonder some of the girls were reported to have refused to accept the offer of freedom but instead preferred to remain with their abductors. There is no evidence of the girls having been married off, sold into slavery or killed by their captors. With promises that the remaining girls would soon be freed, previous stories of their being used in suicide bomb attacks have turned out as speculations lacking in any iota of substance. As things have turned out, it would appear that Boko Haram has demonstrated a good record in respecting the fundamental human rights of its prisoners; an offence our military have before now, been accused of.
When we juxtapose the seeming good health of the girls with the renewed threat by the swapped commanders, the impression we get is that of a confused situation. Such confusion can only be resolved through more information on the saga. People (especially journalists) should seriously be interested in knowing whether the girls we have seen were in the dreaded Sambisa forest all these years? They should be interested in their experiences while they were held captive. What occupied their time during the period and how they related with the insurgents are of public interest.
But we cannot have any of these now. The alibi is that allowing them to disclose such information would jeopardize the release of the remaining girls. We are told that they are serious security information that the public does not need now. Plausible as this seems, there is the other dimension that the excuse could be a convenient subterfuge to cover up the real story behind the abduction saga. That is the uncanny dilemma we have to contend with for now. Someday, the real story will emerge.
