Lagos, Nigeria - Families of the hundreds of
Nigerian girls kidnapped in April by the hard-line
Boko Haram group are distressed over fading public
attention and the government's apparent lack of
communication amid a growing insurgency.
As they wait for news of the girls, many people in
Nigeria's northeastern Borno state live in fear, trying
to protect their children as Boko Haram carries out its
deadliest attacks yet, including attacks in Chibok,
from where the girls were abducted.
"This government has become silent on the issue,"
said a father of two of the kidnapped girls. "We can't
see anything tangible about the abducted girls.
There's nothing on the ground," said the father, who
like other parents interviewed for this story asked to
remain unnamed for fear of retaliation from Boko
Haram.
The families have not received any updates since
May 26, when Nigeria's chief of defence staff, Alex
Badeh, claimed the authorities had located the girls
but feared they could be killed if the military used
force to free them.
"That's the only news," said the father of the missing
girls, referring to Badeh's comments. "But until now
there has been no sign of this. We mistrust all these
promises made by the federal government that they
will rescue these girls."
One month after Badeh made the announcement, the
US government, which is flying surveillance planes
over northern Nigeria in support of the Nigerian
authorities, said they still don't know where the girls
are.
"We don't have any better idea today than we did
before about where these girls are," Pentagon press
secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters on
June 27.
Necessary silence?
On June 26, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
responded to critics in an op-ed in the Washington
Post. "My silence has been necessary to avoid
compromising the details of our investigation," the
president said, though he did not comment about
Badeh's announcement or give specific updates on
the rescue efforts.
"My government and our security and intelligence
services have spared no resources, have not stopped
and will not stop until the girls are returned home."
But a mother of one of the kidnapped girls said she
was not convinced by Jonathan's claims. "If they're
doing something, we should have heard something
from them by now," she said. "We cannot go to bed
to sleep at night. All of us, we sleep awake. No rest,
no peace."
In Borno state, especially in remote areas such as
Chibok, locals say security forces are failing to
protect them from Boko Haram fighters who
frequently mount attacks against unarmed civilians,
burn homes, and kill those who try to escape. Military
officials have said it is difficult to protect "soft
targets" in rural areas from hit-and-run attacks by
Boko Haram.
"Right now as we're talking together, they're in a
village nearby ... they're here in the town shooting
and killing," said the mother, who asked not to be
named.
Another father of two kidnapped girls said that he,
along with other parents, shelters his other children
in the region's bush areas to protect them from
attacks on their village. "We stopped living in the
house. Some people are living in the mountain, in the
caves, some are in the far-away bush," he said. He
wants to move his children to a safer location, but
said the roads are too dangerous.
Like other parents of the kidnapped girls, he feels
neglected by the Nigerian government and President
Jonathan, who has yet to visit Chibok. "He refused to
come and even say a message to comfort us," the
father said.
Escalation
Boko Haram seems to be overwhelming security
agencies in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, which last
week suffered its third explosion this year. Boko
Haram is suspected to be responsible.
The June 25 attack near a shopping centre in the
upscale Wuse 2 district left at least 22 people dead.
Two car bombs on the outskirts of the capital left
more than 90 people dead in April and May. Boko
Haram claimed responsibility for the April attack.
"The fact that the group can now hit the capital
repeatedly is troubling," said Philippe de Pontet,
Africa director at the Eurasia Group, a risk
consultancy. "It's a priority city for the government
and for the military - yet despite that, Boko Haram
seems to be able to [out]-maneuvre the government
repeatedly."
Boko Haram has killed thousands of people since
2009 in its campaign to establish an Islamic state in
Nigeria. The insurgency has left at least 2,000 people
dead this year alone, Amnesty International
reported in May.
"The Jonathan administration has been late and
reactive on the Boko Haram threat from the onset,
and to some extent on the kidnapping of the Chibok
girls as well," said de Pontet. The president took
nearly three weeks to make his first comments on
the kidnapping.
"The fact that two months have come and gone and
there's been no success in the rescue efforts has
clearly affected the confidence of the people," said
Ukoha Ukiwo, a political scientist and programme
manager at the Abuja-based Nigeria Stability and
Reconciliation Programme, which works to reduce
violence in the country.
The government could "explore possibilities for
political solutions" and try to start mediated talks
with Boko Haram, added Ukiwo. In the long term,
there is "a need for some kind of economic
development programme in the region... to reduce
the prospect of [the population] being easy recruits
to insurgent groups," he said. Nigeria's northeast is
among the poorest and least-educated regions in the
country.
To negotiate or not?
Even if the girls are located, though, the ordeal will
be far from over.
If the military does find them, de Pontet said, "they
face this dilemma of whether to make a risky rescue
attempt or not".
Nigerian government officials had given
contradictory statements in May over whether the
government was considering swapping prisoners
with Boko Haram in exchange for the girls. In the
end, President Jonathan rejected the measure,
although he said his government is open to dialogue
with former fighters who renounce violence.
Pogu Bitrus, a community leader in Chibok, doesn't
believe there aren't many options to get the girls
back safely. But if he had to choose, Bitrus said that
"given the type of situation, they're better off to
negotiate and get our girls back

Why the blame of silence on Nigerian govt?
What baffles me more is the silence of the foreign govts who rushed in to help with their wonderful technologies
Where is CNN, US, UK, Chinese, Australian supports etc?
Their silence is more deafening I must say.

rati ken: Why the blame of silence on Nigerian govt?
What baffles me more is the silence of the foreign govts who rushed in to help with their wonderful technologies
Where is CNN, US, UK, Chinese, Australian supports etc?
Their silence is more deafening I must say.

Am surprised too

The point is that if a man cannot match his master strength for strength he will resort to kill his master favorite goat, the north do not plan their game well

Your govt is responsible for the girls,nt the folks helping