The serial failure of the Nigerian state to protect its most vulnerable was re-advertised on Sunday when a ranking general admitted that the military did not know the location of the kidnapped Chibok girls. Some 28 months after the hapless maidens were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, our security agencies cannot say with some certainty where they are, much less, mount a rescue operation. The world is tired of excuses: the government should urgently take extraordinary steps to end the girls’ ordeal.
The parents and guardians of the 218 missing girls are grappling with mortal emotional wounds. The terrorist group twisted the knife in on August 14 when it released its latest propaganda video showing dozens of its captives, bedecked in flowing hijabs and urging the government to open talks with the fiends. For the traumatised parents, the agony is just bearable for those who identified their daughters in the video, knowing they are still alive; but worse for those who did not see their offspring, their anxiety heightened by the terrorists’ claim that Air Force bombing raids had inadvertently killed some of the girls. Millions of Nigerians and many more worldwide share their pain. But does the Nigerian government?
The immediate past government on whose corrupt, inept and uncaring watch the girls were abducted certainly did not, regardless of its officials’ hypocritical posturing; some fear that the current administration too may not care enough. True, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the campaign trail and in office, has repeatedly voiced his personal anguish at the fate of the captives. We hold him at his word, given at his inauguration and restated thereafter, that he would never consider Boko Haram beaten until the Chibok girls were recovered. But he eroded his goodwill on Monday when he failed to meet the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners and parents who had marched peacefully to the Presidential Villa in Abuja to demand swifter action.
On Saturday, the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, confessed that the Nigerian Air Force, which has conducted scores of air strikes against the Boko Haram terrorist targets in the North-East region, did not have credible intelligence on the location of the girls. He said despite 2,600 hours of flight hours from January to August 17, this year, half of them being Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance, pilots had not detected the girls.
The Buhari government should be radically different from the deplorable Goodluck Jonathan administration, whose indiscretions sealed the fate of the girls. First, do not dismiss Boko Haram’s claims hastily as Jonathan and his generals routinely did. The latest offers of negotiation may just be the last window of opportunity to recover these girls. We should capitalise on the publicised division within the terror group.
In dealing with hostages, countries like Israel, the United States and the European Union member states adopt a two-track approach: the military option is always open. Where the chances of success are high and the possibility of rescuing the hostages alive are also high, commandos will be sent in. The second option is to keep lines of communication open for negotiations with the terrorists, either directly or through third parties.
For either to succeed, effective intelligence is essential: in the one to locate the hostages and in the second, to be able to mount covert intelligence operations, working with other agencies and groups. Buhari cannot run away from the glaring deficit in our security system; the intelligence services have been disappointing. The fault is actually the government’s because, faced with the new type of threat in the shape of terrorism, we, unlike other countries confronted with similar situations, have not overhauled our security system. The last time a major reform was undertaken was in 1986-87 when the old Nigerian Security Organisation was split into three − Directorate of State Security for internal security; Nigerian Intelligence Agency for foreign intelligence gathering and the Defence Intelligence Agency for military related intelligence. If mighty US could undertake a radical review of its intelligence community after 9/11 and create a new Department of Homeland Security, our own failure to retool has left the DSS and NIA flat-footed.
It is a shame that 863 days after their capture, the DSS and NIA cannot provide accurate intelligence on the girls’ whereabouts for the military to use. Without a massive shake-up, both organisations are not equipped to handle international terror. We expect the security forces to have a task force – made up of intelligence, police and military special forces personnel – dedicated solely to searching for and rescuing the girls. The DSS and NIA should be given a timeline to locate them. The DSS should leave political and corruption issues and face its core mandate.
We urge a dogged pursuit of the negotiation option and prisoner release if that will bring the girls home. In the 30 years to 2015, Israel set free 7,500 Palestinian and Arab prisoners in exchange for 14 living Israeli hostages and six dead bodies. To secure a single soldier, Gilad Shalit, in 2011, it released 1,027 prisoners – among them 280 convicted terrorists – confirmed by Hamas to have collectively killed 569 Israelis. For its soldier, Bowe Bergdhal, to breathe the air of freedom in 2014, the US government negotiated through the Afghani, Pakistani and Qatari governments and released five hardened Taliban militants. In September 2014, Turkey recovered 49 abducted Turkish troops held by the Islamic State in exchange for 180 imprisoned terrorists.
The lesson is clear: countries place the highest premium on the lives of their nationals; Nigeria should too. Though costly, we should be ready to let go of some Boko Haram detainees to give the Chibok girls back their lives.
Getting the girls back should be a national priority. Military commanders should stop seeing it as secondary to driving terrorists from territory, but view both as twin objectives. We should seek help from friendly countries and enhance the capacity of our special forces commandos. The government should not hesitate to seek help anywhere, including with military rescue operations.
