Boko Haram, FG and release of Chibok 21

For millions of Nigerians and the international community, the release of 21 out of over 200 Chibok school girls recently is a cheering development. This is understandably so given the fear that had been expressed in some quarters that the girls might have died or been given out in marriage to members of the Boko Haram’s terrorist group.

The girls were abducted from their school, Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014 by the insurgents. This was at the time that the nation held her breath as the insurgents seized control of the north-east region, hoisting its flags in some communities as a mark of conquest.

For the freed girls, we can only imagine what their experiences in their ‘strange world’ for more than two years may have been like.  Aside the trauma and despair of living amongst blood-thirsty and gun-wielding insurgents, the return of one of the 21 with a baby, clearly gave insights into the level of assault and humiliation in their abductors’ camp.

Indeed, to say that the families of the freed girls are ecstatic with the news of their return amounts to emphasizing the obvious.  We recall the wailings and pleas by the families. We recall the peaceful protests that erupted in different parts of the world, condemning and demanding the release of the girls, whose only crime was being students at Government Girls School in Chibok.

We recall the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ (BBOG) campaigns and the involvement of notable international personalities which included Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations (UN), Michelle Obama, wife of the president of United States of America (USA), and back home, the tenacity of Oby Ezekwesili, former minister of education and other members of the BBOG who kept the fire burning, demanding that the government gets more serious about rescuing the  the girls alive, even when it seemed hope was fading.

The release of the Chibok 21, therefore, is a plus for the federal government, as one of its major electoral campaign promises, is seen half-fulfilled. We share in their joy and hope they could do more.

“We have been working on the safe release of the girls and following all the leads available. In this instance, the moment we had a credible lead, Mr President gave the green-light to the DSS to pursue it. We can confirm that the DSS pursued the lead in collaboration with a friendly European country and a renowned international humanitarian organisation. The DSS was supported by the military.

“As soon as the necessary confidence was built on both sides, the parties agreed on the date and the location of the release of the 21 girls”, said Lai Mohammed, minister of information, culture and tourism, who spoke at a world press conference in Abuja on the release of the girls.

Mohammed said the release of the girls was a not a swap, but a product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both sides.  “It is also a major step in confidence-building between us as a government and the Boko Haram leadership on the issue of the Chibok girls”, he revealed.

We commend the federal government, the international collaborators and the Nigerian internal security operatives who synergised to make this happen.

We however expected that, with the confidence that the Boko Haram leaders are said to have built in the government of President Muhammadu Bello, all the captured Chibok school girls, would have been released.

We, therefore, urge the government to build on the gains of this confidence to vigorously pursue the release of the remaining school girls. Like the families of these girls, Nigeria and indeed, the global community, we cannot afford to wait for too long to receive the remaining school girls.

It is sad to note that, while the mission of the Boko Haram insurgents remains vague, their activities over the last six years, including bombings in the north-east region and Abuja, have led to the death of thousands, with many others rendered homeless. There have been social disequilibrium in families and in the society as thousands live in camps as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), unable to fend for themselves, their families or send children to school.

We demand that the negotiations that the federal government has confirmed should be on-going between it and the Boko Haram leaders. Government should also seek to quickly end the destructive era of the insurgents in the country. Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in all indexes of development. It is our strong belief that a peaceful nation is a progressive nation and ending Boko Haram insurgency is a right step in this direction.