There was initial shock and panic in the sleepy community of Dapchi, Yobe State,Wednesday, last week, when nine trucks suspected to belong to the fiery Boko Haram insurgents zoomed into the community.
The locals reckoned that it was the same set of vehicles that snapped the tenuous respite of the war-wearied town, when the hooded insurgents, armed with sophisticated weapons, invaded the Government Girls Science Secondary School, Dapchi, on February 19, this year, and abducted its students, who upon counts, numbered 110.
But as the residents made to flee, they also heard cries and emotive songs from the girl-occupants of the trucks, with waves of the Boko Haram dark flag as typical olive branch, from the militants.
The Dapchi residents were at first mummified, and soon after, got jolted to the reality that their abducted girls had been returned. And in a jiffy, the entire community erupted in wild jubilation, with the residents singing praises of the terrorists and showering compulsive encomiums on them.
In turn, the hooded visitors chuckled in visage, dancing as they helped the alighting girls to offload their luggage. The historic girls too ran out, to the waiting, enchanting embrace of their parents and other loved ones.
Shortly after, the news was all over the world; that the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls, kidnapped by Boko Haram two months ago, under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, had been rescued. It was also reported that, while 105 of the children were rescued alive, five of them had, unfortunately, died.
The report was predictably amplified by sundry politicians from the ruling class, who reminded the nation that the same Buhari administration had, last year, rescued 106 of the 237 Chibok, Borno State secondary school girls, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters in 2014, at a time President Goodluck Jonathan of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party was in charge.
Undoubtedly, the two feats have helped to lionise the Buhari administration as a goal-getter, and one having the capacity to withstand the heat created by the lingering gale of insurgency that has wracked most parts of Northern Nigeria, especially the North-East.
Do we believe that the Boko Haram fighters were so humane to the extent of foregoing their expenses, troubles, political and religious goals? Did they just release the girls upon broad smiles by the Federal Government negotiators?
But far from the realm of politics, which now elevates ego above sound reasoning, there is the need to preen at the circumstances surrounding the kidnap and eventual release of the Dapchi girls, all taking place within a space of two months. This should, in tow, bring to the fore, the need for some sort of emergency, to re-order the lamentable security condition of Nigeria.
Isn’t it curious till date, that the Federal Government has failed to react to a widespread accusation that the kidnapping of the girls was a well-orchestrated plan by devious characters in power to achieve purposes ranging from pecuniary gains to power play? Perhaps, what should have prompted an early response to this accusation was a claim by Amnesty International – the world renowned human rights body – that it made several calls to alert the security operatives of the presence of Boko Haram in Dapchi before the abduction, but that the government and the security agencies turned deaf ears.
Again, there were unconfirmed reports that security guards were withdrawn a few hours before the Boko Haram marauders gambolled into Dapchi, to cart away these teenage schoolgirls. That same scenario reportedly played out during the 2014 abduction of the Chibok girls, as forewarning by yet some foreign sleuths was dismissed with a wave of the hand.
These two cases have thus lent credence to a conspiracy theory that has now rent public discourse. If the government, to which the country’s sovereignty is commonly given to ensure care and security for the governed, is now found to be playing Judas against the citizenry, then a return to the drawing board for the much-touted restructuring of the Nigerian state may be a viable option.
The government, funnily, claimed that it did not pay ransom to the insurgents before the Dapchi 105 were released. Such spoon-feeding, ordinarily, should be spat out by even a certified fool, as unveiling realities would prove otherwise. Do we believe that the Boko Haram fighters were so humane to the extent of foregoing their expenses, troubles, political and religious goals? Did they just release the girls upon broad smiles by the Federal Government negotiators? Perhaps, it was this display of a large heart that made the government to reciprocate the gesture by allowing free passage for the insurgents after they had returned the girls.
With the questions lingering in the air, it is not easy for Nigerians to discard the festering rumour that five million euros was paid as ransom, while some Boko Haram fighters were bartered for the girls.
However, assuming the Federal Government paid ransom, what had been sauce for the goose should have been ideal, too, for the gander, as efforts should have been geared at securing the release of the remaining Chibok girls in the insurgents’ captivity.
Above all, the Buhari administration should come to terms with the reality that it is far away from winning the anti-insurgency war, and should endeavour to, in fairness, take critical steps to contain the Boko Haram contagion, which is fast threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria.
Uprooting the source of the problem is more desirable than window dressing.
