Encomium
The Boko Haram abducted Chibok school have remained been Away Without Official Leave (AWOL) for three months, yet no real breakthrough in the search and rescue mission spearheaded by the Nigerian military, with support from western powers.
The hopes of the abducted girls’ parents are dwindling by the day, as evidenced by the rising reported cases of death among them.
ENCOMIUM Weekly brings you a round off of events surrounding the whereabouts of the remaining Chibok girls three months on..
MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014:
We are closer to rescuing Chibok girls – FG
The Federal Government (FG) revealed on Monday, July 7, 2014 that the Army was nearer to finding the over 200 abducted school girls from Chibok by Boko Haram insurgents.
The girls were abducted by insurgent group, Boko Haram on the night of April 14, 2014, and their abduction had forced the FG to accept foreign help in battling the menace.
Coordinator of the National Information Centre (NIC), Mike Omeri, said that security officials have been making headway in the search for the girls and have infiltrated the terrorists’ haven.
He said: “We will let you know when further actions are taken. We now know some of the female operatives of Boko Haram and some of their armourers” Omeri also revealed that an attack over the weekend had killed a military commander and five soldiers, when insurgents attacked their Borno camp.
He also talked about the statements by reporters saying the Federal Government was not sharing information. He said: “This centre has been open, we have always communicated and media houses have been reporting. But if they want security information beyond what we are communicating, then that is beyond us here.”
TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014:
National Council of State promises “Good news” on Chibok girls
The National Council of State is promising to deliver “Some good news” very soon about the more than 200 schoolgirls held captive by Boko Haram extremists for nearly three months.
The council, made up of past presidents, state governors and leaders of parliament, said it is, “Satisfied the security agents know very well where the girls are located,” Gov. Godswill Akpabio told reporters at a news briefing, speaking on behalf of the council. The governor added that the question is not whether the girls can be rescued but how to do it without endangering their lives.
He said the council, which was addressed by President Goodluck Jonathan and his national security advisers, was left confident that the president and the military are “On top of the situation.”
Tuesday’s council meeting commended Nigeria’s military and security agents, who have been roundly criticized at home and abroad for their failure to swiftly rescue the girls and to curb an escalating Islamic uprising by Boko Haram which has claimed the lives of thousands.
Boko Haram scholar tells FG: Release our officers, get Chibok girls
A man who described himself as a teacher/scholar inside the Boko Haram camp spoke anonymously with the BBC World Radio Service on Tuesday, 8 July 2014, stating that only the release of imprisoned Boko Haram members by the Federal Government can bring about the freedom of the over 200 Chibok girls they abducted on April 14 at the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok.
In the brief chat, he said, “Yes, we want the Nigerian government to release our members. As our leader Abubakar Shekau promised to the media, if today the government releases our members, tomorrow or the next day we promise you can see all of them (the girls) sure. We would release them tomorrow or the next day.” he told BBC World Radio.
Speaking further, he said the abducted girls are in good condition and are well catered for, “I am telling you a fact, they are in a state of amnesty. They don’t have a problem. Some of them have belief in Islam, some of them said they would not convert to Islam but we didn’t differentiate them, we treat them equally. They are healthy, feeding and all these,” he added.
On whether they discriminate against the non-Muslim abducted Chibok girls, he dispelled widespread fears,
Saying, “We didn’t differentiate between them at all, why because, Allah commands us to treat them equally. Some of them said they would not come back to Islam, we asked them to stay, no problem. There is no forcing in Islam but some of them not Muslims are converting to Islam but we are not differentiating them. If you see them now, you would see they don’t have any problem.”
On why they attack and kill women and children, he said the killing of children and women is not acceptable in Islam, but when you are fought, you fight back. The man also said Boko Haram attacks anyone who gives out information about them and their activities.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014:
30 girls escaped from Boko Haram camp-reports revealed
30 of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from Government Secondary School, Chibok have escaped, a military source told journalists on Wednesday, July 9, morning.
There is yet to be an official statement on the development but it is expected to be confirmed later in the day. The source, who said he doesn’t want his identity revealed, confirmed that two other Boko Haram captives, – a boy and a 10-year-old girl also escaped.
The source said, “All 32 escapees and the hunters who helped them to escape are currently with the soldiers.”
According to the highly placed source, the girls were brought to the soldiers’ camp by the hunters late Tuesday night.
A top Borno State government official said no such information had been communicated to them yet but revealed that nine abducted persons from Kummabza Village in Damboa local government recently escaped and have been re-united with their families.
If confirmed, it would bring to 87 the total number of girls to have escaped from Boko Haram to date, leaving 189 still in captivity.
Dr. Abati rubbishes claims of ‘do-nothing’ against Jonathan
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, has criticized the misconception that his principal, President Goodluck Jonathan, has consciously adopted a “do-nothing” strategy with respect to the rescue of the over 200 schoolgirls held by Boko Haram insurgents since April 14, as well as stopping the notorious sect in its tracks.
In an opinion article entitled: “Nigeria’s offensive against Boko Haram: Charges of a ‘do-nothing’ strategy are misconceived” published in the Washington Times, the president’s spokesman, while acknowledging that the concern being expressed over the abduction of the girls is legitimate, said it would be unfair to ignore the issues and simply put all the blame on the president.
He stated that the attempt to turn the matter of the abducted girls into a referendum on the Jonathan administration has resulted in a complete misreading of the situation and “Much deliberate mischief fueled by ignorance and sponsored propaganda”.
“The most popular misconception is the notion that the Jonathan administration has consciously adopted a ‘do-nothing’ strategy, and that the government only responded and considered international partnership necessary after pressure was mounted on it to do something,” he wrote in the opinion piece. Abati argued that those criticizing the president were ignorant of the Federal Government’s efforts geared towards the rescue of the Chibok girls.
He explained that the Boko Haram threat dated back to 2002 and had become a much bigger menace, and a full-scale terrorist movement, by the time Jonathan assumed office in 2010.
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014:
Brown hopes Chibok girls gain freedom before 100th day in captivity
United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and one-time British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, on Friday, 11 July 2014, called for the world to show support for the kidnapped schoolgirls of Chibok, Nigeria, on July 22, which will be the 100th day of their captivity. In his words, “We, of course, hope that the Chibok girls will be released before July 22.” Mr. Brown, who will start his new term as special envoy this month, said according to a press release from his office. He continued, “However, by marking the 100th day of the abduction of the girls, kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists, and by pledging never to abandon them, we are reminding people that we are in the mindset of a global civil rights struggle.”
Mr. Brown also called on civil societies and youth organizations to come together in solidarity with the school girls and to send letters of support.
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2014:
Boko Haram leader, Shekau, mocks BringBackOurGirls campaign in new video
Boko Haram issued a new video on Sunday, July 13, 2014, mocking the BringBackOurGirls social media campaign that highlighted the plight of the 223 schoolgirls kidnapped by the group in north-east Nigeria.
In the taunting broadcast apparently released to mark the girls’ third month in captivity, Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls would not be freed until the government released the “army” of Boko Haram fighters held in Nigerian prisons.
Shekau, in the video, also claimed responsibility for three bombings last month and voiced support for the Islamic state, the fellow extremists who have seized much of northern Iraq.
The video, obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP), served as a direct snub to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl and women’s rights campaigner who arrived in Nigerian capital, Abuja, over the weekend to voice support for the BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Ms. Yousafzai, who moved to Britain after being shot by the Pakistani Taliban, met with some parents of the missing girls on Sunday, July 13 and was also expected to hold private talks with Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president. However, as she did so, serious doubts emerged about the girls’ chances of ever being rescued. In briefing with newsmen over the weekend, Western diplomats said that despite the huge international publicity that the social media campaign has generated, efforts to find the hostages were little further on than they were back in May, when Britain, America and France began to help.
With neither a prisoner swap or a rescue considered likely, they said there was little real prospect of any “breakthrough” in the case in the foreseeable future.
-MICHAEL NWOKIKE
