500 painful days without the Chibok girls

Members of the #BringBackOurGirls group protesting
 the abduction of 219 Chibok Girls in Abuja... on Thursday | credits: Olatunji Obasa

When on April 14, 2014, some bloodthirsty bandits from the Boko Haram terror group invaded the premises of Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State and made away with close to 300 schoolgirls, not a few thought that the long arms of the Nigerian state would soon catch up with them and their innocent captives liberated. But today marks 500 days since that dreadful incident that reverberated all through the world took place; yet, there has been no sign of the girls.



The only positive development was when 57 of the original 276 girls captured by the religious extremist group found their way home from the Sambisa Forest after taking advantage of the breakdown of one of the vehicles that were carrying them to make good their escape. Even when a resurgent Nigerian Army took on the insurgents shortly before the last elections and rescued hundreds of women and children, nothing was heard of the Chibok schoolgirls.

All along, the efforts to rescue the girls had been chaotic. In the days following the abduction when action was most needed, President Goodluck Jonathan typified the confusion and downright denial in government as it took him about three weeks to admit the kidnap took place. Even after the admission, Jonathan took ghastly solace in an absurd comparison, saying “the missing Malaysian aircraft the world is yet to find (it), so we are not alone.”

As pressure mounted on the government from Nigerians, the civil society, particularly the #BringBackOurGirls group, and the international community, the then Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, announced that the military had located the girls. This proved to be a hoax. Obviously disturbed by our government’s atrocious cluelessness, France, Britain, the Netherlands, the United States and the European Union intervened, with French President, Francois Hollande, convening a summit of Nigeria and its neighbours in Paris to fashion out a rescue plan. Yousafzai Malala, the Pakistani girl-child education campaigner, joined in the crusade, visiting Jonathan to express her dismay.

The recent demand by the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban ki-Moon, for an unconditional release of the girls may be seen as a rallying call to refocus attention on the plight of the girls. It may be perceived as a wake-up call on a slumbering nation to shake off its lethargy and spring back into action. But, in reality, it is actually an indicting reminder of how much the country has failed the Chibok girls. It also reminds other Nigerians that if they should find themselves in such a situation, they should expect no help from their nation.

What kind of a country would move on when the fate of its 219 girls remains unknown? What is the worth of a country that cannot offer protection to the weak and vulnerable among its citizens? How can the lives of girls who were getting ready for their examinations in a country where girl-child education is considered to be at a premium be treated as expendables the way the Chibok girls have been treated?

This tragedy has caused terrible anguish for the families of the Chibok girls. For the distressed relatives of these girls, 500 days on from Boko Haram’s midnight raid, the sight of just any girl on the street can induce panic. According to experts, having a family member go missing is called “ambiguous loss.” It is said to be one of the most painful types of losses because there is no possibility of closure or resolution. They are faced with a lifetime of grief unless what psychologists call the “boundary ambiguity” is finally defined.

But the efforts of the Buhari government so far offer some hope. Apparently, the baffling story of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls has become the symbol of the campaign against Boko Haram. And as Buhari stated in his May 29 inaugural speech, without securing their release, Nigeria cannot claim to have won the war.

So far, Buhari has visited our neighbours – Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin Republic – with the aim of cementing the existing military cooperation, as Nigeria wages a sustained onslaught against the insurgents. The release of $21 million to the Joint Military Task Force in June as part of the $100 million the Federal Government had earlier pledged to support its operations and the $5 million grant to Nigeria by the US are critical inputs for success.

But Buhari should be the rallying point for a new international collaboration in finding and rescuing these innocent girls. And this should include the supply of high-tech military equipment and intelligence sharing. If Malaysia could bring 26 different countries together to conduct one of the world’s largest peacetime operations in search of a missing plane with 239 people on board, Nigeria should seek fresh international assistance to get our girls back from the dungeon of a gang of depraved minds.

It can be done.

Source: Punch