$1BILLION NEEDED TO FREE CHIBOK
GIRLS
BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.
Talk is cheap but taking vital
actions can be extremely expensive, this seems to be what may be the problems
as it is nearly 80 days since some school girls were abducted from their school
by the terror group, Boko Haram in the
North Eastern region of Nigeria
In an investigation conducted by
Paedia Express Multimedia in Lagos,it was discovered that at least a sum of
around one million dollars is usually shelled out to the insurgent so that they
can free any of their hostages.
Now well over 300 women and girls
are now said to be in the camp of Boko Haram in the dreaded Sambissa Forest, considered
a well fortified fortress by Defence sources.
Usually ransoms are paid out when there are high calibre cases like what Nigeria is witnessing but the non-disclosures of this facts and the modus operandi by the government may be the reasons why little has has been done by the Presidency till date on the matter
In February last year, armed men on motorcycles snatched Frenchman Tanguy
Moulin-Fournier, his wife and four children, and his brother while they were on
holiday near the Waza national park in Cameroon, close to the Nigerian border.
Boko Haram was paid an equivalent of
about $3.15 million by French and Cameroonian negotiators before the hostages
were released, according to a confidential Nigerian government report later
obtained by Reuters.
Figures vary on how much Boko Haram
earns from kidnappings. Some U.S. officials estimate the group is paid as much
as $1 million for the release of each abducted wealthy Nigerian.
It is widely assumed in Nigeria that
Boko Haram receives support from religious sympathizers inside the country,
including some wealthy professionals and northern Nigerians who dislike the
government, although little evidence has been made public to support that
assertion.
Current and former U.S. and Nigerian
officials say Boko Haram's operations do not require significant amounts of
money, which means even successful operations tracking and intercepting their
funds are unlikely to disrupt their campaign.
Boko Haram had developed "a very
diversified and resilient model of supporting itself," said Peter Pham, a
Nigeria scholar at the Atlantic Council think-tank in Washington.
"It can essentially 'live off the
land' with very modest additional resources required," he told a
congressional hearing on June 11.
LOW-COST WEAPONS
"We’re not talking about a group
that is buying sophisticated weapons of the sort that some of the jihadist
groups in Syria and other places are using. We’re talking AK-47s, a few
rocket-propelled grenades, and bomb-making materials. It is a very low-cost
operation," Pham told Reuters.
That includes paying local youth just
pennies a day to track and report on Nigerian troop movements.
Much of Boko Haram's military hardware is not bought, it is stolen from the
Nigerian army.
In February, dozens of its fighters
descended on a remote military outpost in the Gwoza hills in northeastern Borno
state, looting 200 mortar bombs, 50 rocket-propelled grenades and hundreds of
rounds of ammunition. [ID:nL3N0OD3BU]
Such raids have left the group well
armed. In dozens of attacks in the past year Nigerian soldiers were swept aside
by militants driving trucks, motor bikes and sometimes even stolen armored
vehicles, firing rocket-propelled grenades.
Boko Haram's inner leadership is
security savvy, not only in the way it moves money but also in its
communications, relying on face-to-face contact, since messages or calls can be
intercepted, the current and former U.S. officials said.
"They're quite sophisticated in
terms of shielding all of these activities from legitimate law enforcement
officials in Africa and certainly our own intelligence efforts trying to get
glimpses and insight into what they do," a former U.S. military official
said.
U.S. officials acknowledge that the
weapons that have served Washington so well in its financial warfare against
other terrorist groups are proving less effective against Boko Haram.
"My sense is that we have applied
the tools that we do have but that they are not particularly well tailored to
the way that Boko Haram is financing itself," a U.S. defense official
said.
On the night of 14–15 April 2014,
276[1]
female students were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in the town
of Chibok in Borno State,
Nigeria. The kidnappings were claimed by Boko Haram,
an Islamic Jihadist
and terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria.
As of 29 June, more than 200
students are still missing.[2]
Boko Haram has claimed that it wants to sell the girls.
The government has been heavily
criticised for failing to protect the population and end Boko Haram terrorist
actions.
The insurgent group Boko Haram
is opposed to the Westernisation of Nigeria, which
they maintain is the root cause of criminal behaviour in the country.[3]
Thousands of people have been killed in attacks perpetrated by the group, and
the Nigerian federal government declared a state of emergency in May 2013 in Borno State
in its fight against the insurgency.[4]
The resulting crackdown has led to the capture or killing of hundreds of Boko
Haram members, with the remainder retreating to mountainous areas from which
they have increasingly targeted civilians.[5]
However, the campaign has failed to stabilise the country. A French military operation in Mali also
pushed Boko Haram and AQIM terrorists into Nigeria.[6][7]
Since 2010, Boko Haram has targeted
schools, killing hundreds of students. A spokesperson for the group said such
attacks would continue as long as the Nigerian government continued to
interfere with traditional Islamic education. 10,000 children have been unable
to attend school as a result of the activities by Boko Haram.[3]
Boko Haram has also been known to kidnap girls, who it believes should not be
educated, and use them as cooks or sex slaves.[6]
Boko Haram's attacks have
intensified in 2014. In February, the group killed more than 100 Christian men
in the villages of Doron Baga and Izghe.[6]
Also in February, 59 boys were killed in the Federal Government College attack
in northeastern Nigeria.[8]
In March, the group attacked the Giwa military barracks, freeing captured
militants.[6]
The abduction occurred on the same day as a bombing attack in Abuja in which at
least 88 people died.[9]
Boko Haram has been blamed for nearly 4,000 deaths in 2014.[6]
Training received from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and
al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
has helped Boko Haram intensify its attacks.[10]
On the night of 14–15 April 2014, a
group of militants attacked the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria.
They broke into the school, shooting the guards[11]
and killing one soldier.[12]
A large number of students were taken away in trucks, possibly into the Konduga area of
the Sambisa
Forest where Boko Haram were known to have fortified camps.[12]
Houses in Chibok were also burnt down in the incident.[9]
The school had been closed for four weeks prior to the attack due to the
deteriorating security situation, but students from multiple schools had been
called in to take final exams in physics.[9][13][14]
There were 530 students from
multiple villages registered for the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination,
although it was unclear how many were in attendance at the time of the attack.[15]
The children were aged 16 to 18 and were in their final year of school.[16]
Initial reports said 85 students were kidnapped in the attack. Over the 19–20
April weekend, the military released a statement that said more than 100 of 129
kidnapped girls had been freed. However, the statement was retracted, and on 21
April, parents said 234 girls were missing.[6]
A number of the students escaped the kidnappers in two groups.[17]
According to the police approximately 276 children were taken in the attack of
which 53 had escaped as of 2 May.[15]
Other reports were that 329 girls were kidnapped, 53 had escaped and 276 were
still missing.[14][18]
Amnesty International later said it believes
the Nigerian military had four hours advanced warning of the kidnapping, but
failed to send reinforcements to protect the school.[19]
Nigeria's armed forces have confirmed that the Nigerian military had four hour
advance notice of the attack but that their over-extended forces were unable to
mobilize reinforcements.[20]
The students are being forced into
Islam[21]
and into marriage with members of Boko Haram, with a reputed "bride price"
of ₦2,000 each ($12.50/£7.50).[22][23]
Many of the students were taken to the neighbouring countries of Chad and Cameroon, with
sightings reported of the students crossing borders with the militants, and
sightings of the students by villagers living in the Sambisa
Forest.[23][24]
The forest is considered a refuge for Boko Haram.[23]
Local residents have been able to track the movements of the students with the
help of contacts across north eastern Nigeria.[23]
On 2 May, the police said they were
still unclear as to the exact number of students who were kidnapped. They asked
parents to provide documents so an official count could be made since school
records were damaged in the attack.[15]
On 4 May, the Nigerian President, Goodluck
Jonathan, spoke publicly about the kidnapping for the first time, saying
the government was doing everything it could to find the missing girls.[16]
At the same time, he blamed parents for not supplying enough information about
their missing children to the police.[10]
On 5 May, a video in which Boko
Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the
kidnappings emerged. Shekau claimed that "Allah instructed me to sell
them...I will carry out his instructions."[16]
and "Slavery is allowed in my religion, and I
shall capture people and make them slaves."[25]
He said the girls should not have been in the school and instead they should be
married since girls as young as nine are suitable for marriage.[16][25]
Following the kidnapping incident, Boko Haram again abducted eight girls aged
between 12–15 from northeast Nigeria,[26]
a number later raised to eleven.[27]
Chibok is primarily a Christian village and Shekau acknowledged
that many of the girls seized were not Muslims: “The girls that have not
accepted Islam, they are now gathered in numbers...and we treat them well the way
the Prophet
Muhammad treated the infidels he seized.” [28]
On 5 May, at least 300 residents of
the nearby town of Gamboru Ngala were killed in an attack by Boko Haram
militants after Nigerian security forces had left the town to search for the
kidnapped students.[29]
On 9 May, former Boko Haram negotiator, Shehu Sani stated that the group
wanted to swap the abducted girls for its jailed members.[30]
On 11 May, Kashim Shettima, Governor of Borno
State in Nigeria, said that he has sighted the abducted girls and that the
girls were not taken across the borders of Cameroon or Chad.[31]
On 12 May, Boko Haram released a video showing about 130 kidnapped girls, each
clad in a hijab and a long Islamic chador, while it demanded prisoner exchange.[32][33]
A journalist-brokered deal to secure
the release of the girls in exchange for prisoners held in Nigerian jails was
scrapped at a late stage on 24 May 2014 after President Goodluck Jonathan
consulted with U.S., Israeli, French and British foreign ministers in Paris,
where the consensus was that no deals should be struck with terrorists, and
that a solution involving force was required.[34]
On 26 May 2014 the Nigerian Chief of
Defence Staff announced that the Nigerian security forces had located the
kidnapped girls, but ruled out a forceful rescue attempt for fears of
collateral damage.[35]
On 30 May it was reported that a
civilian militia in the Baale region of Northeastern Nigeria found two of the
kidnapped girls raped, "half-dead," and tied to a tree.[36][37]
Villagers said the Boko Haram group had left the two girls, killed four other
disobedient girls and buried them. 223 were still missing.[37]
On 24 June, it was reported that 91
more women and children were abducted in other areas of Borno State.[38]
On 26 June, it was announced that Levick, a Washington, D.C. public
relations firm, had received "a contract worth more than $1.2
million" from the government of Nigeria to work
on "the international and local media narrative" surrounding the
Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping.[39]
On July 1, 2014 a businessman
suspected of carrying out the kidnappings of the school girls, as well as the
bombing of a busy market in Northeast Nigeria was arrested. Military sources
said that he was also accused in helping the Islamist militant group in killing
the traditional leader Emir of Gwoza. 
Governor
Kashim
Shettima demanded to visit Chibok, despite being advised that it was too dangerous. The
military was working with vigilantes and volunteers to search the forest near the
Nigeria-Cameroon border on 21 April.[6]
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
and UNICEF
condemned the abduction,[43]
as did former Nigerian military ruler Muhammadu
Buhari.[44]
UN Security Council also condemned the attack
and warned action against Boko Haram Militants for abducting Girls.[45]
Governor
Kashim
Shettima demanded to visit Chibok, despite being advised that it was too dangerous. The
military was working with vigilantes and volunteers to search the forest near the
Nigeria-Cameroon border on 21 April.[6]
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
and UNICEF
condemned the abduction,[43]
as did former Nigerian military ruler Muhammadu
Buhari.[44]
UN Security Council also condemned the attack
and warned action against Boko Haram Militants for abducting Girls.[45]
Parents and others took to social
media to complain about the government's perceived slow and inadequate
response. The news caused international outrage against Boko Haram and the
Nigerian government. On 30 April and 1 May, protests demanding more government
action were held in several Nigerian cities.[14]
Most parents, however, were afraid to speak publicly for fear their daughters
would be targeted for reprisal. On 3 and 4 May, protests were held in major
Western cities including Los Angeles and London. At the same
time, the hash
tag #BringBackOurGirls trended globally on Twitter as the
story continued to spread[10]
and by 11 May it had attracted 2.3 million tweets.[46][47]
A woman who helped organise protests was detained by the police, apparently
because the First Lady of Nigeria, Patience
Jonathan, felt slighted when the woman showed up for a meeting instead of
the mothers of victims. The woman was released soon after. Reports said the
First Lady had further incensed protestors by suggesting some abduction reports
were faked by Boko Haram supporters.[16][48]
Several online petitions were created to pressure the Nigerian government to
act against the kidnapping.[49][50]
On 30 April, hundreds marched on the National Assembly to demand government
and military action against the kidnappers.[51]
The President of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria
called on Muslims to fast and pray "in order to seek Allah's intervention
in this precarious time."[52]
Sa'ad
Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, has also called for
prayers and intensified efforts to rescue the students.[53]
On 9 May, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State called on all
Muslims and Christians to join in "three days of prayers and
fasting."[54]
On the same day, Muslims in Cameroon have been calling on fellow believers not
to marry any of these girls should they be offered to them.[55]
On the same day, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh
Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh joined other religious leaders in the Muslim world to
condemn the kidnappings, describing Boko Haram as misguided and intent on
smearing the name of Islam. He stated that Islam is against kidnapping, and
that marrying kidnapped girls is not permitted.[56]
The scale of the kidnapping was
unprecedented, which led the former United States Ambassador to Nigeria
John Campbell to declare that Boko Haram's
strength "appears to be increasing. The government's ability to provide
security to its citizens appears to be decreasing."[6]
Director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center J. Peter Pham
said "The failure of the government to even get a clear count further
reinforces a perception of systemic governmental failure".[6]
The
Economist "labeled President Goodluck Jonathan as
incompetent," saying that Jonathan and the Nigerian military "cannot
be trusted any longer to guarantee security for Nigerians," adding that
“the worst aspect of the Nigerian government’s handling of the abduction is its
seeming indifference to the plight of the girls’ families. It took more than
two weeks before Jonathan addressed the matter in public.”[48]
A nigerian singer pop singer Adokiye offered her virginity in return for the
release of the schoolgirls, claiming she was prepared to have sex with dozens
of men.[57]
President Goodluck Jonathan said that the reason why he kept mum for sometime,
was because he did not want to compromise the details of the security effort
carried out.[58]
– The United Kingdom has agreed to send experts to Nigeria
to assist in the search for the students. The British experts will be drawn
from various governmental departments including the Foreign Office, the
Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence, and will
concentrate on planning, co-ordination and advice to local authorities.[59]
A Royal
Air Force Sentinel R1 reconnaissance aircraft has been deployed
to Ghana to assist in the search.[60]
– The United States has agreed to send experts to Nigeria
to assist in the search for the students. The American team consists of
military and law enforcement officers, specializing in "intelligence,
investigations, hostage negotiation, information-sharing and victim
assistance." The US is not considering sending armed forces.[59]
Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku
Abubakar, and Dr. Babangida Aliyu, chairman of the Northern
Governor's Forum, "welcomed the US government’s offer of military
assistance."[61][62]
On 12 May, 16 military personnel from US African Command joined the Search and Rescue
Operations.[63]
On 22 May, the Department of Defense announced
that it was deploying an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and 80 United States Air Force personnel to nearby
Chad. Chad was chosen as a base for intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance flightes because of its access to northern Nigeria.[64]
– France has offered a specialist team.[65]
French President Francois Hollande also offered to hold a summit
in Paris with Nigeria and its neighbours to tackle the issue.[31]
– China
has announced its intention to make available "any useful information
acquired by its satellites and intelligence services."[65]
– Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper has acknowledged that Canadians have joined the international effort
to free the schoolgirls. Details about the extent and duration of the
involvement are being kept secret.[66]
– "Iran has offered to help Nigeria resolve the issue of the
abduction of nearly 300 female students in the African country by the Takfiri
terrorist group, Boko Haram." The remarks were made by Iranian Deputy
Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, at a
meeting in Tehran with Nigerian Ambassador to the Islamic Republic Tukur Mani.[67]
– Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered assistance to the
Nigerian President in locating the missing pupils on 11 May 2014. “Israel
expresses its deep shock at the crime committed against the girls. We are
willing to help assist in locating the girls and fighting the terror that is
afflicting you,” he said.[68]
According to an unnamed Israeli official, the Prime Minister sent afterwards a
team of intelligence experts to Nigeria. It contains people who are experienced
in dealing with hostage situations, and "are not operational troops,
they're there to advise."[69]
A joint U.S.-Israel project, which modified the Beechcraft C-12 Huron aircraft for electronic
warfare and reconnaissance, was being used and "may prove decisive in
finding the girls," according to one source.Alhaji Tar, a member of one of the vigilante groups set up to resist Boko Haram's attacks, said the men arrived in Garkin Fulani at midday on Thursday and forced the women to enter their vehicles at gunpoint.
The group also kidnapped three young men who tried to stop the abduction, and drove to an unknown location in the remote stretch of Borno state, he said.
News of the latest kidnapping came as the people of Maiduguri buried more than 100 bodies almost a week after a Boko Haram attack. Local leaders said many more victims of the attacks had yet to be found.
Lawan Abba Kaka and John Gulla, from Attagara in Borno state, said nearly 110 people had now been interred after Islamist militants stormed the village and at least three others nearby on Tuesday and Wednesday last week.
Boko Haram, which wants to set up an Islamic state in Nigeria, has increased the number of attacks in recent months, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
Ali Ndume, who represents Borno South in Nigeria's senate, said burials had taken place in nine villages: 42 in Attagara, 24 in Aganjara and 20 in Agapalwa.
"From what those who fled told us, there are more corpses in nearby bushes and the mountainside," he told reporters after a meeting in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri. "Many people that fled the communities are also trapped on the hills, as they are without food or water."
Hundreds of people were feared dead in the attack in the Gwoza district of Borno, with some community leaders putting the death toll as high as 500, although there was no independent verification of the claim.
Peter Biye, who represents Gwoza in Nigeria's lower chamber of parliament, last week described the bloodshed as massive, but said an exact death toll was impossible to compile because the insurgents were still in the area and local people had fled.
Heavily armed gunmen were said to have killed babies being carried on their mothers' backs and shot down villagers as they tried to flee.
Asabe Vilita, a Gwoza local government leader who is also Borno commissioner for commerce and investment, said 1,290 people were displaced by the violence and many had gone to Maiduguri. Three camps have been set up and local political and religious leaders in the affected areas were working with the military to ensure that those who fled could return when it was safe.
The villages were a mix of Christian and Muslim communities and Ndume said they had lived together peacefully for a long time.
"They may have their disagreements, but the latest attacks were perpetrated by Boko Haram. It is sad because our people were mercilessly murdered and many houses razed," he said.
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