Uncertainty, confusion over Chibok girls

Some days ago, the #BringBackOurGirlsGroup (BBOG) promised to stage a mega rally in Abuja with a view to reminding the Federal Government of the need to rescue the girls. However, while thanking the BBOG for keeping their nightmares and pains in the frontline of public discourse, some of the Chibok parents believe that the Federal […]

Some days ago, the #BringBackOurGirlsGroup (BBOG) promised to stage a mega rally in Abuja with a view to reminding the Federal Government of the need to rescue the girls. However, while thanking the BBOG for keeping their nightmares and pains in the frontline of public discourse, some of the Chibok parents believe that the Federal Government’s attention is far from the travails of their daughters.
Two weeks ago, the media was awash with news that the Chibok girls still in the custody of Boko Haram have been released. Dozens of parents were ecstatic at the rumour and they frantically called journalists and prominent Maiduguri citizens to confirm. Most of the platforms that carried the story indicated that they got confirmation from the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, a claim which he denied about 30 minutes after the story went viral.
The drama began on Tuesday, 23rd September, 2014 when some of the escaped Chibok girls were sighted being taken into the Maimalari Barracks in two white buses belonging to the Borno Express Services, the commercial passenger fleet of the Borno State government. Excited after seeing the girls, numbering about 35, some sources within the barracks   posted the development on their twitter feeds, Facebook pages and other social media.
Within a very short time, Major General Olukolade was contacted by journalists but the spokesman answered most of the enquiries in the affirmative, later making a u-turn. Sources said he initially thought that the enquiries were actually referring to the girls that escaped in the early days of the abduction saga. But others said there was a “serious gap” between the public relations office at the Defence Headquarters and the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, which according them was responsible for the frequent “rebuttal and withdrawal of claims”.
The approach to the story of the “newly escaped girls” was however different among some reporters in Maiduguri who dug further in finding the authenticity of the story.
Speaking on the issue, Bana Lawan, the caretaker chairman of Chibok Local Government area said, “Yes, they are among the over 260 girls kidnapped in April from GGSS Chibok but they are not new escapees, they are among the early escapees that got reunited with their families long ago,” he said. “They were brought to Maiduguri on their way to school. Remember, the Borno State Government had promised to sponsor their education,” he added. He also said the girls, aged between 16 and 20 and accompanied by heavily armed soldiers, were later taken to the Borno State Government with their personal effects. The buses passed through the West End roundabout and Baga Road, a development that attracted attention, prompting mixed reactions on the true identity of the girls. “We were wishing they are fresh escapees, it would have been heartening, because we have been praying for their return,” James Mbalala, parent from Chibok, said.
At the government house, the girls did not stay long as they were taken out of the premises around 6pm only for them to be brought back the next day. They had audience with Governor Kashim Shettima who gave them cellular phones and announced that the state government will be spending N100 million on their education every year.
The misinformation drama actually began on April 14th, the very day that the Chibok girls were abducted, when Major General Olukolade announced that most of them have been freed. But in a swift reaction on the same day, Mrs. Asabe Kwambura, the Principal of GGSS Chibok said she was shocked when she heard of claims by Nigerian military authorities that only eight girls are yet to be found. Unfortunately, the same confusion has continued to trail the abduction till today, Saturday, which marks 180 days since the 276 girls were taken away. On the day of the abduction, four of them escaped and in the coming days, a total of 53 girls have found their way home so far.
Up till now, no one can precisely explain where they are held or their present condition, as there are various claims that many of them have been ferried across Nigerian borders into Cameroon and Chad. Other reports suggest that many have been married off to Boko Haram insurgents, even as many were said to have died of various ailments.
Accusations, mutual suspicion and bickering have continued to trail the situation, with agents of the Federal Government of Nigerian alleging sabotage by the Borno State government. Intervention by the international community, coupled with persistent outcry by distraught parents of the abducted girls, as well as pressure from the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners, are yet to avail a tangible breakthrough.
More worrisome is the fact that when Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram released a video of the abducted girls on May 5th, only 137 girls were counted, suggesting that the whereabouts of 86 remain unknown.
The confusion heightened on Sunday, 28th September when one Susanna Ishaya, who was initially thought to be one of the kidnapped girls. She was found wandering in the bush after she was allegedly abandoned by Boko Haram insurgents with a four-month pregnancy, raising apprehension some of the abducted girls might have been manhandled by their captors.
The girl, who is reportedly in the custody of the Defence Headquarters, is said to not be one of the 276 schoolgirls. Findings have shown that her real identity remains questionable as her full name or photograph were not found among the names of the missing girls released by a Christian cleric in Kaduna, as well as the one obtained from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the one sourced by Chibok elders from parents of the abducted girls.
Observers believe that even the recently touted story of a secret negotiation between Boko Haram and Nigerian authorities on swapping of 30 of the abducted girls with 18 key commanders of the sect was nothing but just that, a story. “They were all processes initiated by some people with middle-level commanders but Shekau dismissed it on arrival. As you can see, the video released by the sect recently did not in any way suggest that something in that direction is ongoing,” a source told Weekly Trust.
With the way things are going, it remains painfully unclear when the Chibok girls would regain their freedom, even if life will not be the same for them when they do. “Had the Nigerian government done the right thing immediately after the abductions, our daughters would have been rescued,” Ishaya Musa, a parent in Chibok, said.