₦airaland Forum

TOMI FALADE AND SAMUEL OGIDAN


LAGOS /ABUJA – It is constantly said that educa­tion is the one thing no one can take from an individual. But asking the Chibok girls who were abducted six years ago, would elicit a totally different answer as while some have been fortunate to get renewed access to education, a larger percentage stare bleakly into the future, unaware and uneducated.


Background

Six years ago, on the night of April 14, 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted by gun-totting men of the Boko Haram terrorist group at the Government Secondary School, Chibok.

The abduction put Chibok, an otherwise unknown community in Borno State on the map of the world.

Of the 276 girls abducted by the Boko Haram, 57 escaped, in the course of transportation and 219 were missing for a long time. A total of 107 have been rescued, and 112 girls remain missing till date.

Six years after the abduction, the pains, the anguish, the trauma and the circumstances that led to the ab­duction, which has been blamed on insecurity refused to go away.

Many Nigerians had believed that with the level of the public outcry, the dastardly actions of the terror­ists would be the last of its kind. Un­fortunately, the harbinger of death has inflicted more pain on Nigerians especially on Borno people and the Chibok community.


The Promises

At the time some of the girls were released, the Federal Government of Nigeria made several laudable promises to care for the girls and see to their education considering the trauma they had been put through. Not just that, the general populace, including members of the interna­tional community had thought that the girls would become wards of the nation to be forever protected.

Unfortunately, till date, most of the aid, care and goodwill the girls received were from organisations, individuals, corporate bodies and NGOs.

Not only did the government renege on its promises to the girls, according to a concerned family member of one of the girls, but they also managed to politicise the whole issue.

Constitutionally, it is the responsi­bility of the Federal government to ensure that the girls are properly tak­en care of, but from all indications, it appears all the promises have be­come a pipe dream, as accusing fin­gers are being pointed at the Federal government for frustrating efforts geared towards helping the girls.


What The Stakeholders Are Saying

Even with the dire outlook that awaited the girls upon release from the shackles of the dreaded sect, many international organisations lined up to assist and lend support as needed, but those efforts were equally frustrated.

Saturday INDEPENDENT brings the reports of her exclusive interac­tions with some stakeholders and family members of Chibok girls during the week:

Dauda Iliya, The National President Of Kibaku (Chibok) Area Development Association (KADA)

Narrating the harrowing expe­rience of the rescued girls, he said that many schools abroad, voluntary organisations and others offered to provide them (Chibok girls) with scholarships but were hindered and frustrated by the Federal gov­ernment.

He added that the Federal gov­ernment used fictitious allegations to frustrate some of the girls, who were on scholarship, from travelling abroad.

“For instance, sometime in Au­gust 2018, Maryam Wavi, Asabe Goni, Amina Ali Nkeki, Saratu Emmanuel, Rebecca Ishaku were literally blocked at the airport, by the police and State Security Ser­vice (SSS), who handed them along with their parents to the Nigerian Immigration Services and detained them until they missed their flight. They were on full scholarships to study in the United States, with the full consent of their parents and all with proper documentation. After they missed their flight, the immi­gration services let them go,” he said.

Explaining the role he played when the girls, who were supposed to travel overseas to further their ed­ucation were locked up, the KADA National President said that the al­legation against the girls that led to their arrest was that they were being trafficked.

He said: “There was a group of three or four of them who through the support of a faith-based organ­isation got some scholarships to study in the US, and for reasons best known to security forces particularly the DSS and the police, they accosted them at the airport, and they handed them over to the Nigerian Immigra­tion Service that they were being trafficked.

“I was personally involved in hav­ing to negotiate their release from the cell of the Nigerian immigration service before they were released.

“They were held for two nights, I think. One in police custody and the second in Nigerian Immigration cus­tody with their parents and even the pastor of the particular local branch of that church that arranged that scholarship.

“Nobody gave us any reason, the immigration just stonewalled and said they were handed for interroga­tion on suspicion of being trafficked. What is trafficking about? They had their passports in place, they had their letters, the pastor of the local branch of the church was there.”

Iliya further explained that even the ones that were supposed to study at the American University, Yola, had to leave because of unfair com­petition, a development that led to frustration.

“The ones that were even taken to the American University, the educa­tional assessment and placement of those girls were not properly done. Some of them that were barely lit­erate were made to unfairly compete with people who had very good foun­dations and better education. This made them demoralised, they felt shortchanged.

“The right thing was to have assessed them and placed them in classes according to their level. No­body said they must go to American University in Yola, there are other universities, there are other schools both locally or internationally where they could have realised their educa­tional aspirations,” he said.

Lamenting how the government had deceived the Chibok community, KADA National President disclosed how the coup of army engineers, the then Finance Minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala went to do a ground­breaking ceremony of rebuilding the Chibok School with so much publicity and funfair, adding, “only for them to abandon the project. That school does not exist, a lot of money has been spent, see physical structures, brick and mortar but all these are raw materials, what is im­portant is for these young ladies to have an enabling environment for them to further and complete their education.”

Speaking further on the arrest of the girls, who were on their way to study abroad, Iliya noted that “they were traumatised and treated like criminals, neither the pastor, the parents nor the students had any interest again in doing anything to do with travel.

“In the first place, these are peo­ple that are not used to international travels, this was their first passport. So I rarely do not know the specific status of those students, of course, their parents are back in Chibok, but I don’t know If they’re in school or they’ve gone to do other things in life, but that put paid to their yearn­ings and ambitions to further their education.”

Alamson, Older Brother To One Of The Chibok Schoolgirls, Hadiza Kwaboi

“Gradually, the issue of Chibok schoolgirls is becoming a forgotten story by the government.

“Most of the girls schooling out­side Nigeria are sponsored by indi­viduals, companies, groups of people or NGOs. There were about 10 that were taken out of Nigeria, and they are being cared for. I heard two of them have graduated and one has been given a green card.”

He added, “To be candid, the issue of Chibok girls has been politicised. Right from the beginning, one of them escaped on her own and later a few others. Later, about 21 of them were also freed with the help of international organisations or the government. In the last batch, about 82 girls were also released. Those 82 girls were taken to Abuja, and then the American University of Nigeria, Yola. This was in 2018.

“Government claimed to be do­ing all that they can for the girls to be alright, but the complaints I have been receiving from these girls are worrisome.

“In June 2020, I travelled home and I met with some of them who are still at the school in Yola, and their complaint was that till date some of them do not know whether they are in secondary school or pri­mary school. Some are saying that by this year or next year, they will write WAEC. Only a few have been opportune to enroll in the university there,” he added.

He continued, “Even though the government is making claims that the girls are doing well and they are sponsoring them, or that every month they are releasing large sums of money for the girls, we can’t see it.

“For those that were taken to the American University since 2014, if they were in Nigerian universities, by now they would have graduated after six years. But up to date, some of them are still there and are think­ing of quitting. Last year, I was told about nine of the girls left the school and refused to return.

“They would have loved to see themselves being treated equally with the other students, but they are being kept in one place away from the others,” Alamson disclosed.

Sharing the story of one of the girls, Hauwa, he said, “one of the girls, Hauwa, I can’t remember her last name now; was dismissed from the school because she was accused of stealing a phone. After six days, the phone was recovered from one of the cleaners in the school. She there­after got angry and pushed one of her accusers, who is a female staff of the school. That was the cause of her being dismissed. In a normal set­ting, they should have called her and her parents or guardians and talked to her because these girls are under psychological depression, particular­ly the girl that was dismissed. She was orphaned because she lost her parents in the midst of these crises. These are some of the challenges.

“Yes, we appreciate the effort of the government, but I also want to believe that there are some bad eggs among those that are caring for the girls on the side of the government. We all know the issue of corruption in Nigeria. It has ravaged the govern­ment badly,” he stated.

In painting a picture of the Fed­eral government’s lack of empathy for the plight of the released Chi­bok girls, Alamson said, “those that escaped from Boko Haram early, including my sister have been aban­doned at home for a long time. The government promised to care for them, but they were unable to settle down to it.

When this new govern­ment came into power, I personally made a lot of effort through the me­dia both internationally and locally, but no effort was made for the girls who escaped on their own to be en­rolled in school. They have been liv­ing at home, frustrated and crying day and night. The government and individuals with means need to con­sider this.

Some of them till date still want to go to school, they don’t want to be mothers and be beggars. These girls have dreams in life, but because of poverty, they can’t do anything on their own. But if they can get people to sponsor them, at least up till their first degree, they will be grateful.

“Most of the parents are also frus­trated. About 30 of the parents have died. At the last anniversary of the girls’ kidnap on April 14, 2020, the parents converged to commemorate, one of the parents slumped and died. A lot have died like that as a result of the trauma of losing their child. The parents are haunted by the thought of their children being turned to sex machines and forced to be slaves in the bush.”

Adding to his words, he explained that there was still some good news as two of the rescued girls, with the help of their parents, were able to enroll into Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri.

“The government is hypocritical toward the Chibok girls issue. The government needs to stand by its word and not make empty promis­es,” he charged.

Chairman of Chibok Parents Union, Yakubu Nkeki

According to him, four out of the 12 have gotten married, adding that age was not on the side of some of the girls, who were already approach­ing 28-30 years.

He further explained that two out of the total number of the rescued girls have been sponsored abroad by an individual to further their education.

He said: “They are not in school at the moment because of the outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic.

“Before the outbreak of the coro­navirus, there were plans on ground for them to write WAEC this year. We have made arrangements with the Minister of Women Affairs and the President of America University Yola. Some of the girls are approach­ing 28 years and they are complaining because they are not used to this sys­tem of long education which makes them stay over 30 years without get­ting married, so some parents decided to withdraw some of their girls.

“Some of them agreed to contin­ue in that School, eight of them have been promoted to degree part 1. They are doing very well and are properly taken care of. They are up to 97 of them in that American School, eight of them are doing degree undergrad­uate part 1; some are reading Mass Communication and other causes.

“Before the coronavirus outbreak, 12 of them have left the school out of 107 that were in the American School.

“It is true some have gotten mar­ried and some refused to stay in the school, now they are at home even before the outbreak of the coronavi­rus. Out of the twelve, four of them have got married now.

“Yes the school is very nice just that the system the school operates doesn’t suit the interest of the girls, some girls have been there for some years now without writing WAEC, the girls are not comfortable because it’s not the same with our system of education and so they complain.

“The two girls taken to America are Grace Dauda and Rebecca Mal­lum.”

Nkeki lamented that his present concern is that the girls are still in captivity, noting that “there is noth­ing happening in that regard at the moment, everything now has gone down, no any information again and the parents now has lost hope of get­ting the girls again.”


A New Dimension Of Insecurity

Six years down the line, peace still remains far away from the town of Chibok. Iliya and Alamson both re­vealed a new dimension of insecuri­ty in Chibok community.

The KADA National President said that nothing has changed six years after the initial episode that put Chibok on the map. According to him, the killings and other forms of insecurity in the community and its environs have taken a dangerous turn, adding that hunger is staring at the Chibok community.

“This is the planting season in Chibok, what stares us in the face is hunger because we don’t stand to harvest anything. Nobody is willing to leave his house to the farm be­cause of the killings in the months of April, May and June. Six years after, the story is the same. As a matter of fact, it is getting worse.

“The first half of 2020 has been a very difficult time for the Chibok community. There’s no respite for the Chibok people, and education has even become secondary.”

He added, “We’re talking about basic survival. In Chibok commu­nity, I have uncles and aunties and grannies in some cases. We were ne­gotiating to allow fertiliser to arrive only for this to happen and there’s no prospect of any substantial agricul­tural activity happening in Chibok this year.

“Remember, Chibok and South­ern Borno is the food basket of Borno State. Northern Borno does not have agriculture, they only fish around Lake Chad. The well-known dried fish comes from Borno State. The farming of the popular brown bean, groundnut and maize are all around Southern Borno and this year, there are no prospects at all. It’s a very sad story. I don’t even want to imagine what will become of my people come November, December and January 2021 if God leaves us alive,” he said.

Even with the presence of army brigade, the activities of the terror­ists is not abated. Iliya was of the opinion that the special brigade, known as Task Force Brigade Num­ber 7 may have been overwhelmed.

“When you go to Chibok you see them when you approach Chibok, they have a Task Force Brigade Number 7 of the Nigerian army, but I think they’re overwhelmed. When these battles happen, you would clearly see that we are over­whelmed. The Boko Haram terror­ists are clearly more superior in their firepower and their resolve. In this attack of last week on that Dambuwa Maiduguri road, if you scrutinise the firepower, the amount of destruction visited upon the Nigerians fighting is demoralising.”


Fresh Abductions

As if to reignite fears in Chibok that the saga was not over, 17 new girls have been kidnapped from farms in Chibok.

Nkeki said, “the situation of things in Chibok is very bad, we don’t have time to even go to the farm, our farms have been invaded by mil­itants who kill people in the farm. Within these two months, they have abducted 17 girls from the farm, only three of them have escaped within this month of June and July. There is no way you can go to the farm if it is far from town.”


Cry For Help: ‘Our Ancestral Home Is Being Decimated’- Chibok Residents

In their hopeless situation, the Chibok community has cried out for help, noting that their ancestral home is being decimated by the ac­tivities of terrorists.

The KADA National President said that they have nobody to speak on their behalf and they cannot con­tinue to suffer in silence, hence the cry for help.

“We cannot continue to suffer in silence, we must speak out; we are such a small society; we are lacking in power; we only have one Chibok speaking member in the Borno State House of Assembly. We don’t have a Chibok speaking member in the National Assembly at all. We are a sorry sight, believe me. It’s a pity. In this our federation called Nigeria, it’s everyone to himself and God for us all. We’ve been abandoned to our devices, it’s very unfortunate.

“Our message is a message of a loud cry for help. Apart from those of us who have the privilege to go out of Chibok and live in diaspora and other parts of Nigeria, the ancestral home of the Chibok people is being decimated and nobody cares.

Not only did the government renege on its promises to the girls, according to a concerned family member of one of the girls, but they also managed to politicise the whole issue.

IamWonderful:
I don't understand why you will want to write an article on a specific title and not go straight to the point, we are lazy to read, just give us what we should know not what we have know

kelfree99:
After defeating boko haram, bandits and other treats
The government should look into human capital investment , and educate all the northerners, because poverty is the reason some one would think of causing mayhem , and demanding for another country.

Tranquillity360:
There was never a kidnapped chibok girls.




All na politics to get power.