It is now over two weeks after Boko Haram kidnapped about 200 innocent school girls from their Middle/High School in Chibok, Borno State of Nigeria.
Since then the world has been waiting!
Even the number of the kidnapped girls has become a thing of conjecture. The figures have swirled from 185 to 235, in addition to varying accounts of some rescue and escapes. It is difficult as yet to ascertain what is fact and what is speculation.
But that is not the only concern. Earlier, some of the security agencies made a patently careless claim of some rescue, which turned out to be untrue. The Nigerian people and indeed the world do not know what to believe and what to doubt.
In the absence of an outright and decisive action by the Nigerian government, citizens are beginning to make plans to go after the terrorists with whatever they have in self-defense!
The situation is that bad and grossly pathetic. Not only are facts not sacred, the intention of some parents and relatives to defend their children in the absence of government action reflects how very grave and highly appalling this situation has become.
We may be confused as to the real facts of the number and the circumstances of the attack and some of its fallouts. However it is clear and certain that there are parents, families and relatives of the schoolgirls who assert that their wards are missing and are believed to be among those who have been abducted by this gang of evil terrorists. At the last count, media reports say, the parents have counted about 234 missing girls.
CANAN stands with the parents and condemns the shameless behaviours of these terrorists. Indeed one of our trustees, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, a former Nigerian Education Minister yesterday-Wednesday- led a rally of women in Abuja calling for the release of the abducted girls.
We pray for the safe return of these young girls, who are students, and whose only guilt is that they seek education. No one should have to suffer and come under such acrimonious onslaught because they seek knowledge, just as no one should have to suffer because of their faith.
Now the world is seeing what we had seen and cried out loudly about. For instance in April 25, 2012, Mrs Deborah Shettima, 46, witnessed the brutal murder of her husband, execution style right inside their home because the man was a Bible Study teacher. After the Boko Haram terrorists shot her husband, they then kidnapped her two daughters, ages 7 & 9. Up until now, those innocent little girls have never been found! In fact in the case of Ms Shettima, the terrorists came back to the house after three months and shot her son, the third child!
CANAN brought this particular case to limelight when we addressed a press conference in March last year in Abuja alongside CAN leaders. We raised the alarm! But as it was then, the response from the authorities is still far below the level and extent of damage. For one, the Nigerian government have continued to show itself very helpless, by itself alone to secure the well-being of the people in the areas where the Boko Haram attacks have become common.
The officials of the Nigerian government often say the right things in their public comments, but the activities on the ground is fast turning the Nigerian government’s response to mere rhetoric. Promises have been made over and again by the presidency, especially in the aftermath of grievous terrorist attacks.
But then the situation does not improve. The terrorists carry out attacks over and over again in places that are meant to be under an emergency rule regime!
The bitter truth is that the terrorists are having a field day and the authorities in Nigeria are yet to contain them.
It does not however have to remain this way. The Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the federal, state and local governments can do far much more than they are doing. Nigeria is now undergoing an intense insurgency that requires the government to be more resolute, decisive and unwavering in the fight. There is no longer room for half-measures or political posturing by the political elite in the country. The Nigerian military has to be actively enhanced to carry out its responsibility including taking care of the welfare of the soldiers on the frontline.
We have read reports of how some of the troops are scared by the terrorists and claims that the terrorists may possess better weapons. This is not only troubling but completely unimaginable for a country that sends troops to global peacekeeping operations at the United Nations.
The US government has thankfully stepped up its efforts, but we are calling for a greater sense of urgency. Boko Haram should not be allowed to gain the confidence and the wherewithal to launch attacks directed against American interests as the group already boasted. Our government in Washington needs to explore new ways to collaborate with the Nigerian government and also use it’s international influence to get Chad, Cameroon and Niger to be more supportive of the Nigerian government and take the Boko Haram terrorists as enemies as well since the terrorists reportedly often hide in some of these neighbouring countries after attacks in Nigeria.
CANAN is committed to the victims of Boko Haram terrorists and will continue to be. We will continue to advocate for a concerted national and international effort to combat this extremist group. This was why on the formation of this association in 2012 we campaigned here in the US for the designation of Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, FTO, even when some past US State Department officials and their allies argued vigorously against our position.
Now that the US government has done the right thing by designating the group as an FTO, we ask that every tool available to the American government be brought to bear to halt this madness before too late. We do not need another Benghazi in Africa!
‘Laolu Akande
Executive Director
Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans, CANAN