Williams: ChibokGirls: A Nigerian Dilemma Sunday, 01 June 2014 00:00 Written by Alabi Williams MAY is gone and now we are in June, yet, no decidedly good news from Sambisa or wherever. The Chibok Girls have been away since the night of April 14-15 and we do not appear close to the end of the nightmare. Last week, on the occasion of Democracy Day celebrations, President Jonathan announced that government would embark on a total war against Boko Haram. That sounded rather risky, knowing that the insurgents have our girls jealously kept in their custody. Later that day, the minister of Youth Development, former governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna announced that government had proclaimed amnesty for those members of the outlawed sect who are willing to lay down their arms and embrace peace. Which of the two pronouncements do we believe – more firepower against the insurgents or an amnesty that will soften the grounds for the safe return of the girls? If only one could read the minds of the parents of these girls and other Nigerians, they would give anything to have these children back in good shape, mentally and physically. But for a country, the stakes could be much higher. That, perhaps, explains why our president appears to be dithering. In the morning, one government official would say one thing; in the evening another would counter. Our President is having a difficult time deciding what to do to bring back (release) the girls. The insurgents have named their price; they want an exchange of the girls for Boko Haram sect members who have been in government custody for many years (without trial). It sounds easy on the path of the insurgents, but not exactly so for a sovereign government. On June 4 2013, the federal government outlawed the Jamaatu Ahlis-Sunna Liddaawati Wal Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram and the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan also known as Ansaru. By that action, the government authorized the gazetting of an “order declaring their activities illegal and acts of terrorism.” That action also seemed to have frozen the possibility of any relationship between government and the sect, either for purposes of negotiation, or otherwise. Perhaps, government was too much in haste to outlaw the sects, without working with the possibility of Chibok. As it were, government had embargoed itself and such diplomatic traps are difficult to wriggle out of. In November 2013, after much pressure, the U.S. expressed solidarity with Nigeria by designating Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organisation. To show support for Nigeria in the effort to defeat Boko Haram the U.N. Security council only recently added Boko Haram to its 1267 sanction list of organisations subject to arms embargoes, travel bans and asset freezes. Though Boko Haram is a Nigerian breed, the global community has already shown commitment to help Nigeria deal with it. Recently, President Jonathan was in France, where he met with leaders of neighbouring Francophone countries to fashion out ways of working in concert against Boko Haram. He was also in South Africa for the same purpose. The convention out there is that you do not negotiate with terrorists and Nigeria may have preferred to work along that line, except that the number of innocent girls that are out there in the cold makes our case an exception. A lot of calculations are going on out there, especially inside Aso Rock, I can imagine. You possibly cannot use force to rescue 200 defenceless girls in the bush. You have no idea the next plot Boko Haram would hatch. You have no idea the number of land mines they have buried around the girls. The best thing to do, it appears, is waiting, pray and think hard. But time is going and delay is dangerous. While waiting, some reasonable Nigerians and others who are confused have suggested the option of agreeing to swap prisoners. They say we should eat the humble pie and meet Boko Haram halfway. Their premise is that we cannot afford to lose our girls in this most horrifying manner. Others are in a hurry to see the humbling of Jonathan and Nigeria, materials of which capitulation they will reproduce very soon as campaign effigies. For others, acceding to the request of Boko Haram would amount to signing away the sovereignty of Nigeria to a bloodthirsty band of hounds, whose end game is to see Nigeria thoroughly bruised with the unrepentant whips of religious bigotry. Abubakar Shekau does not mince words. He wants Sharia and that is his life. The whole world has seen videos of the hapless girls, who were largely of the Christian faith, according to reports, forced into Islamic uniforms upon criminal conversion (at least, going by the Nigerian constitution) and tutored to chant in the manner of adherents of the Islamic faith. This is the dilemma of Jonathan and many patriots. The challenge is, if government is blackmailed to surrender to the repulsive demands of the insurgents this first time, how much more will it be forced to cave in hereafter? Will Boko Haram accept this exchange of prisoners as an opportunity to warm up to government’s previous offers to negotiate and begin to wound down? Do the vitriolic rant and rave of Shekau suggest a mindset with which one could enter into a rewarding and lasting negotiation? Is Boko Haram, a ragtag army of outlaws qualified to challenge government into any kind of negotiation? Yet, something has to be done. If Jonathan must do something without having to ridicule the assistance of Nigeria’s foreign partners on this matter, I suggest that we wind back to see how far we have managed similar cases of kidnap, especially of high profile citizens. That could offer some leeway towards retrieving our Chibok girls locally and also saving face internationally. Nigeria is listed number six among 10 leading countries that are notorious for kidnapping - Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechyna, Philippines, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. These are countries where some criminals have elevated the crime of kidnapping into an art. Usually, they take their victims to locations and make contact with their owners or relations. What Boko Haram has done with the Chibok girls is similar to what kidnappers have done in several locations across Nigeria, except that this is on a large scale and a far more deadly one at that. And this allusion is not intended to trivialise the enormity of the matter, but to proffer a home-grown solution. Many people in government have had to negotiate for the release of their loved ones who were captured for ransom. President Jonathan’s cousin, one Chief Inengite Nitabai, was reported kidnapped on the night of February 23, a Sunday, in Otuoke, Bayelsa State. He is said to be of the same family compound as that of the President, a foster father kind of relation. The Joint Military Task Force operating in the state confirmed the kidnap of the 70-year old man. But the good news was that after 18 days in the kidnappers’ den the chief was rescued. The report was that the kidnappers rejected the N30m they were offered, after they initially demanded N500m. Whoever carried out that rescue and negotiation that yielded no dime for the kidnappers should be commended and brought forward to assist in the Chibok case. The coordinating minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also had the unfortunate experience of having her 82-year old mother kidnapped in December 2012. But the good news was that after five days she was released, hale and hearty. Oronto Douglas, Special Adviser to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy also had his moment of grief when his elder sister, Mrs. Augusta Douglas-Ayam was kidnapped in October 2013. She was released nine days after. On and on, we have had countless cases of negotiations, which were clandestinely carried out in order to secure the lives of those involved. Nigeria might not need to offend foreign partners in order to release the Chibok girls. Government does not need to be involved in the negotiations. At the last count, a number of men of goodwill have volunteered to negotiate the release of the girls. One only hopes that these men are sincere. Too many persons want to earn cheap accolade on this matter and that was how they paraded CNN news reports to offer jaundiced views. We don’t need such men. If I were government, I might settle for the respectable Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, who recently asked government to negotiate with Boko Haram. He sounded very authoritative on the matter. Let him galvanise the rescue process. If we leave this matter to government alone, the next video from Boko Haram could turn out to be very offensive. This government is slow, and prefers to run on committees and that is why men of goodwill must rise up today and do their bit. At this point, we need to thank our women and men who sincerely mounted the campaign to bring back our girls. We also thank those whose conversation now seeks to release our girls. The goal is one, never mind the semantics. The good thing is that Nigerians know the difference, when the time comes.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 04:17:34 +0000
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