Sunday, January 8, 2017, is 1,000th day since 276 schoolgirls were abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria, by terrorists on the night of April 14, 2014. Fifty-seven girls escaped within days of the abduction and 219 were taken into captivity. Since then, four girls have been found. Ten weeks ago, when the 21 Chibok girls returned, the Nigerian government said that based on their discussions, 83 more girls would return soon.
Nothing has been said of them since that time. The BringBackOurGirls movement worries that the Nigerian government has, once again, relapsed into the same complacency, lethargy, and inertia that has been recurrent on this tragedy. What else explains the fact that despite all assurances that the release of another 83 Chibok Girls is being negotiated, there has been no further communication on the status of their release? We are doubly disappointed that the Federal Government contradicted itself by the recent declaration and celebration of the capture of Sambisa Forest as the end of the war.
This action is contrary to the pledge that Mr. President and the military have made repeatedly that they would not declare victory without the rescue of our Chibok girls and all other victims of terrorist abduction.
Sambisa’s camp zero is the same stronghold in which the Federal Government stated that the girls were being held and the 21 released were from there. Should parents, communities, Nigerians and the world assume that the Federal Government has given up on the Chibok girls and other abductees? Painfully, #Day1000 of their tragic abduction is here and there has been no status report provided by the Federal Government.
Mashood Erubami (President, Voters Assembly)
This government is doing its best. Remember, it is not under this administration that the girls were abducted; even the last administration under President Goodluck Jonathan did not tell us where the girls were being kept because they said they didn’t know. There was even a controversy as to whether or not the girls were abducted. It will be difficult for President Muhammadu Buhari to come in and say where the girls are being kept. Since this administration came on board, it has been working hard to bring back the girls and we have seen that this effort has led to the recovery of about 29 of them.
Now that Sambisa forest has been liberated, there is hope that the rest can be recovered as the military continues to search. Nobody can say this government is not trying in this regard. What I can add is that the administration can do better and it should not rest on its oars until the last girl is found and reunited with her family alive.
Dr Biola Adimula (Chairperson, Women and Child Watch Initiatives)
The Federal Government needs to be more proactive and committed to rescuing the remaining abducted Chibok girls. I know that the Federal Government and the Nigerian Army are doing a lot, but more can still be done. I believe that with the capacity of the Nigerian Army, if the Federal Government supports them more, they will be able to do this successfully.
What people are suspecting is that there are some powerful Nigerians that are making it difficult for all the girls to be rescued. The level of achievement the Federal Government has recorded can be improved upon. It is possible to get all the other abducted girls who are still alive. There is no doubt that some of them may have died and many of them could have been indoctrinated and inducted into the sect. Some of them could have become wives of the insurgents. Some of them are already pregnant for them, so there is the need for total reorientation of the girls.
Their indoctrination by Boko Haram insurgents portrays danger for this nation if they are not de-radicalised. The longer they stay, the worse they become. By the time they come back, they may not be useful to themselves, parents or even the society again. This is because of the long time they had spent with the insurgents.
For those rescued girls, there is the need for a reorientation; to train them about good behaviour and how to maintain themselves in the society. The government should send them back to their parents if they are still in protective custody. They should be allowed to go back to the society. There is a lot of positive impacts that their parents can make in their lives.
The #BringBackOurGirls campaigners should continue in their agitation because definitely, the abduction of the Chibok girls by Boko Haram is a serious violation of the Child Right Act of 2011.
Jude ‘Feranmi (KOWA Nat’l Youth Leader)
The answer is a resounding no! If the question were to be focused on the military engagements of the insurgents, it would be another matter entirely. We must not make the mistake of equivocating the progress of our military personnel being reported by the media, as progress on the Chibok girls’ rescue. They are two different missions that require two different approaches.
The negotiation of the Federal Government with the insurgents for the release of the girls was also handled poorly. We don’t know what was exchanged; whether prisoners or money or even ammunition. It is, therefore, very dicey to suggest that the FG go ahead with another round of negotiations for some more Chibok girls.
By all means, if the negotiations for 20 girls took so long, we should remember that we have 195 Chibok girls and a host of others still in captivity. The Federal Government needs to take a stronger approach to rescuing these girls and those in captivity and that could involve setting up a unit consisting of negotiators, military personnel and psychologists for the sole purpose of rescuing the Chibok girls and others in captivity.
It must be said too that those who are said to be repentant Boko Haram militants are, first of all, not militants. As a country, we must learn how to combat actors of violence, not encourage them through amnesty or what we now call rehabilitation after they had expressly waged a war against the state and flouted all laws. It won’t work.
John Hayab (PRO, Christian Association of Nigeria for 19 northern states and Abuja)
Our government spends too much time celebrating the over 20 girls that were found, but have not done enough to bring back the rest or confirm if they are dead or alive.
The #BringBackOurGirls group that was always outspoken went dead or quiet. Issues of security of lives should never be politicised for whatever reasons.
The military are trying and we salute and commend them, but they should maintain their professional role and only rush to the press with facts and for public enlightenment, not to please powers.
One of the major issues this government used to convince many Nigerians to vote for it is that it will get the Chibok girls back in a very short time, or it will be more aggressive to bring back the girls. 1,000 days is enough for us to have many of them back or know more about their whereabouts.
Imagine their parents wailing and waiting for the return of their daughters, especially now that some are home.
Initially, we all thought that they were in Sambisa Forest, but now that the forest is under the control of our gallant soldiers, what is the faith of the parents and all of us that were praying for their safe return?
We acknowledge and sincerely commend the success so far, but we need to see and know more than what we know and have seen now.
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