1000 days without Chibok girls

A distraught, but hopeful world on January 8 once again agonised over the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram terrorist group. That day marked 1000 days, since April 14, 2014, that the girls were kidnapped by gunmen from their dormitories in the dead of the night and plunged into slavery and untold torture.
The long-drawn saga, which has lasted almost three years, has seen hope dim and almost fail, until late September last year, when 21 of the girls were released by their captors. It turned out that their release was the product of intense negotiations between representatives of the Federal Government and the terrorists, brokered by international organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss government. The 21 girls were released to assure all parties that the terrorists, indeed, still have the girls and are capable of setting them free, if their terms are met.
It was on the strength of this new understanding that the Federal Government announced that negotiations were on for the release of an additional 83 more girls. Since then, however, very little has been heard of the negotiations, apart from the recent return of one more girl, Rakiya Abubakar, who was found with a six-month-old baby, following the sacking of Boko Haram from its stronghold in Sambisa Forest.
We commend the Federal Government, our gallant military forces and their civilian collaborators for the successes recorded so far in the war against the terrorists and the recovery of some of the girls. We urge them not to rest on their oars. Ensuring total victory over the terrorists and the rescue of the last of the Chibok girls are tasks that must be done. We are hopeful that the Nigerian authorities are up to the task.
We realise that the negotiations have been particularly difficult for the government which has, many times, been reportedly provided with the devil’s alternative of releasing arrested Boko Haram commanders and paying a huge ransom for the girls. The scenario presents the government with a moral dilemma. What is too much to give for the precious lives of these young schoolgirls? And, what do you give that will not compromise the integrity and future wellbeing of the country? These are the difficult puzzles before the Nigerian authorities.
But then, a complete closure must be brought to the Chibok girls’ abduction saga. The open wound it has come to represent on the conscience of the nation, and indeed, the world, must be healed. We urge government to continue on the path of diligent negotiations, with the objective of recovering the girls firmly in view. All will be well that ends well.  Whatever strategy that has served the country well in the release of the previous 24 girls should be sustained and expanded to ensure that the remaining girls are set free.
In another three months, it will be three full years since the abduction of the girls. We can only imagine the agony and unimaginable trauma the captured girls and their loved ones are going through.  This is why we must not fail to appreciate the activities of all pressure groups, both at home and abroad, especially the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigners who have continued to prick at the conscience of a seemingly forgetful world, on the need to rescue all of the Chibok girls and bring the matter of their sad abduction to a closure.
We remind President Muhammadu Buhari of his campaign promise to rescue the girls, which he reiterated in his inaugural speech upon his swearing in on May 29, 2015. He had, at that occasion, told the nation that the Boko Haram terrorists cannot be said to have been defeated until the last of the Chibok girls is rescued. He is very correct on that score.
But, it is almost two years now since he made that solemn promise and 195 of the girls are still to be accounted for. We join all well meaning Nigerians in holding the President to that promise. We enjoin him and the military to do everything that is possible to ensure that the remaining Chibok girls regain their freedom.