On the night of April 14, 2014, members of the Boko Haram sect attacked the Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State and abducted 276 female students of the school. Fifty seven of the abducted girls managed to escape but 219 girls are still in the hands of their captors. CHIKA MEFOR reached out to the leaders of the #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group, who had stood in advocacy for the girls since their abduction, parents of the abducted girls and one of the abducted girl that escaped from the sect, on their thoughts as two years elapse
On the parents of the abducted girls…
The present communication channel between the government and the parents of our Chibok girls is unrepresentative of the sensitivity of the issue. Proper exchanges hardly happen. It explains the frustration of the parents and their perception of the absence of empathy from government at both the state and federal level. Promises and assurances of concern are not enough. Provisions of welfare support when made available cannot be final and conclusive. There is a gapping need for constant and regular interactions.
Government must see to it that the parents are reached with information ahead of the media. Having them read about developments like what happened in Limani, Cameroon, when a suicide bomber claim to be one of the Chibok girls, in the media like everybody else, without reaching out to them, potentially can worsen their trauma and deepen their psychological imbalance.
What government should do…
Government should ensure that a presidency staff from the Office of the Vice President is designated to maintain communication with the families of the Chibok girls and established abducted Nigerians in Boko Haram captivity.
Also among the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) partner countries, a protocol of communication should be put in place for such irregular development as was witnessed in Limani, Cameroon. The protocol shall provide for systematic release of such information, to augment existing systems.
Where the development occurs in a non-MNJTF country, same protocol of communication should be deployed for use of Nigerian embassies or high commissions.
Adoption of BBOG Verification, Authentication, and Reintegration System (VARS)…
It is important to adopt the BBOG-developed Verification, Authentication, and Reintegration System (VARS); or develop or adopt an operational framework for identification, verification, authentication, re-unification and re-integration of Nigerian citizens wherever and whenever they are found or rescued from in the course of the counter-insurgency war. The framework will help ease identification processes and authenticate claims of citizens faster. The HOWs of their reintegration into the country and reunification with their families will be clear and all administrative players will be sure of their briefs.
On profiling of Chibok schoolgirls and Missing Person Identification…
While the BBOG has been at the forefront of the advocacy for the rescue of the Chibok girls, we by no stretch assume that they are the only Nigerians held in captivity by Boko Haram. But their abduction has remained the symbol among others, for the fight for the education of the girl child in Nigeria. It is one of the many reasons we keep demanding that more be done for their rescue and potential return.
Government should develop a detailed dossier for each of the 219 girls through collation of information from their families. Such dossier should have family details like parents’ and siblings’ names; parents last known occupation, address and social status, etc.
It should also distribute the dossier of the girls to neighbouring countries and embassies and of other countries within the Nigerian border. Develop partners, stakeholders and the media should be availed of the dossier too.
In the case of other missing citizens of Nigeria, we should formalise the responsibilities for the setting up of a Missing Persons Bureau(MPB) or desk situated within the relevant department or agency of government. The MPB should be empowered to collate details of missing persons nationally into a register that is accessible online to accredited or registered stakeholders.
There is also need to establish a DNA Analysis Centre in the country. The need for this cannot be over-emphasized. In the long run, this will remove confusion about identities of people, whether from the scene of an accident or from the theatre of war in the northeast. It will help identify mass of people buried horrifically in shallow graves across the occupied local government areas (LGAs) that were under Boko Haram control for some time.
On the importance of security in schools and girl-child education…
Any attempt to equate all citizens to mean “boys and men” while excluding girls and women as inextricably part of the “citizens are premium” development philosophy will continue to cost us the future. We could have already become a great nation without the dismal results we have had we placed the girl child at the heart of our development agenda and process. Were we to have already done so, showing empathy for and upholding the dignity of the human life of our 219 ChibokGirls and other citizens would have been spontaneous among our elite regardless of their political persuasion. But then, because humans lives – not the least that of girls and women – have no effect on the oil rent based competition for political control that consumes our political elite, our girls remain captives of terrorists two years after their abduction to the eternal shame of the two governments so far that have failed to rescue them since April 14, 2014. In not securing them, we also fail to secure our future.
On the group’s visits to embassies…
It is almost two years that 219 girls were abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno State. It is two years in captivity for girls who had gone in search of education. The world shuddered when the abduction caught global attention. Last two years when the incident happened, we knew that the United Kingdom (UK)and some other countries stated that they will support the government in the rescue of the girls. Over time, the incident triggered away and girls are still in captivity. We do not know what the UK and other countries who had promised to help saw or didn’t see in the period that they came to help Nigeria. Subsequent information that we got through the British media or through officials, seems to suggest that they did not have sufficient cooperation to have enable them succeed in the early days of the abduction.
It is now two years, when we saw our president, that was seven months after his inauguration, he stated that there was no credible intelligence. That for us was not okay. We couldn’t imagine how seven months after inauguration and 13 months after the girls where abducted at that time, we will be told that there was lack of credible intelligence. We believe that the Uk and other countries have the capability to credible intelligence. The UK is a strong partner with Nigeria. In the past, the level of co-operation didnt enable you as much as could possible do, this particular context shall not be the same. If this government is committed to finding the girls and the problem is credible intelligence, we want to know what you are going to do with our government to ensure that there is credible intelligence. It will make a big difference for the parents of this girls, the community and our movement as well as the rest of the world if the UK and other countries could be a basis for identifying the exact location the girls are because it will help persuade the parents that the world cares about the girls. We should not assume closure on the girls because of lack of intelligence. Today’s world of intrusive technology proves that if we put our hearts to it, we can locate something about the girls. We need to be able to find information to persuade the parents of the girls that the world have not abandoned their children.