- Government must ensure that Dapchi does not recur
Given the tragic circumstances in which it was shut down in February, the reopening of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in Yobe State, is very welcome news. However, it is essential that everything is done to ensure that terrorist outrages of this kind never occur again.
In scenes distressingly reminiscent of the infamous mass abduction in 2014 of 276 girls from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, a group of Boko Haram insurgents descended on Dapchi, invaded the school and abducted 110 girls out of the estimated total population of 926. A month later, in March, 105 of them were returned. Five students had died in captivity, while one, Leah Sharibu, is yet to be released, ostensibly for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.
If mass abductions are to be halted in Nigeria, it is essential that there must be a clear understanding of the security failures which characterised the Dapchi tragedy.
The insurgents were able to get into a sizeable town in a supposedly secure state on the frontline of the anti-insurgency campaign. They broke into the school premises, rounded up dozens of girls over several hours and disappeared without a trace. Throughout the operation, the security forces were unable to muster a coherent response of any sort.
Military checkpoints which were in operation in the Dapchi area were allegedly withdrawn a day before the militants struck. The school itself lacked security, and there were apparently no emergency protocols to guide staff and students in the event of an attack.
The parallels with the Chibok abductions are uncannily similar, and they point to the disturbing fact that Nigeria has been unable to heed the lessons of previous mass abductions. Boko Haram did in February 2018 exactly what it did in April 2014 and got away with it.
For an administration which claimed that Boko Haram had been technically defeated in December 2015, this is intolerable. When insurgents are able to use the same methods to achieve their nefarious ends, it is obvious that military tactics and strategies are stagnant and doomed to fail.
During the mass-abductions in Chibok and Dapchi, the insurgents entered the communities without being noticed by the security forces and were able to escape without being apprehended. That is a clear indication that military intelligence is below par, and shows that the current system of patrols, checkpoints and early-warning procedures is ineffective.
The security architecture of the north-east must undergo a wide-ranging overhaul, and aim at ensuring that personnel, procedure and logistics are updated to efficiently counter the insurgents. All schools in the north-east must be integrated into a comprehensive security network which will incorporate reliable communication, clearly-defined emergency protocols, and rapid-response security systems. It should no longer be possible for terrorists to simply walk into an educational institution and walk out after abducting and killing staff and students.
A series of confidence-building measures must be instituted in schools like Dapchi which have suffered terrorist onslaughts. Governments should liaise with the country’s universities to provide psychological assistance to students to help them in overcoming their traumatic experiences.
Those students who are yet to return to school must be sought out. It is crucial that their parents are offered strong assurances that they will be safe from harm, but this is much more likely to be believed when there is clear evidence of steps being taken to make the school more secure.
As the students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, return to school, it is vital that the Buhari administration remember Leah Sharibu and the over 100 Chibok schoolgirls still in captivity. The reopening of the school will remain a hollow triumph if they continue to languish in captivity.
