As all eyes rivet on the
multinational efforts to rescue the abducted girls from their captors, Igbo
wisdom demands that we ‘Chase away the wolf first before coming back to ask the
mother hen questions’. How right! You
could dwell on finding all the reasons only to realize in the end that you have
gotten all the reasons but the chicks are gone! That is why in the matter of
the Chibok abduction, I have always favoured going for the girls first. After all,
nothing can be as important and urgent as having the girls back and unharmed. So
many recriminations are currently flying around, but none has brought home one
girl. So, why not just go for the girls for now?
Nevertheless, much as one would
prefer to leave out these questions for now and focus attention on efforts to bring
back our girls there is just something about these questions that almost appear
to command attention. Like a shadow, the questions won’t just leave us alone.
The more we try to shove them to the background, the more they multiply. Why
are the questions so persistent? Why are they so nagging? Perhaps the reason
the questions refuse to take the back seat is that answers to the questions may
well prove critical to finding the girls. Besides, inability to provide answers
to really very basic questions is an affront to our collective intelligence. These
questions have been raised in one form or the other but we are yet to get answers.
So, we keep probing.
To begin with, why did we gather
so many students in this place without adequate security? You see, I lay no
claim to being a security expert; in fact, I am not even a practitioner.
However, common sense is enough to tell me that these children would be targets,
especially in exam situations; there is an extremist group that hates Western
education and has been going about blowing up schools. Hence, it is easy to see
that these students (both boys and girls) need extra security measures.
Secondly, it is widely reported
that WAEC had advised against having the exams in the school but was overruled
by the state government. What was government’s reason for insisting on
conducting the exams there? Did they carry the security agencies along in their
decision? Was the government acting on any intelligence or simply gut feeling?
Does the school have an internal
security arrangement? Most schools do have security guards. If this school has
security officers, where were they at the time the girls were abducted? What
happened to them? What do they know? Did they hear anything?
What time were the girls
abducted? When did the school authorities know? When was the security agencies
alerted? You see, one of the escapees mentioned that she got to know that
something was fishy by the harshness of the abductors. This was still inside
the school premises. If a child knew that something was wrong, so should the
security officers too! In one interview, the school principal said she was away
to Maiduguri the night the unfortunate incident happened. But she got to know
that same night. Did she alert security immediately?
What did the military know about
this abduction and when did they know what they know? Contrary to the
impression that they came stealthily, pretending to be soldiers, a parent of one
of the abducted girls said he knew about the abduction the same night it
happened. In fact, he is reported that the insurgents started by attacking the
town and when he learnt of the attack, he called his girl to know whether she
is safe. He further told her to run for her life should she get any opportunity
because the insurgents would come for them. Reports have it that the man
actually chased the insurgents to a point where some of their vehicles were
broken down but could do little against a heavily armed group. The insurgents,
according to the report, were in Chibok vicinity until about 10:30am the
following day. That is why it is important to understand what the military knew
and when they got information about the abduction.
Related to the above, how many
vehicles’ did they come with to cart away so many girls in a state under
emergency rule without raising eyebrows? With the reports of so many road
blocks, it is surprising that they arrived, packed the girls and disappeared
without trace.
Furthermore, how were the
abductors able to carry away so many children without hurting anyone of them?
No single shot was fire? Did children see people they know among the abductors
or did someone encourage them to follow?
Finally, how many girls were
abducted? I am emotional about this one. This should not be a difficult
question to answer ordinarily. Yet, we have seen so many figures bandied around
that it is practically impossible to say with certainty how many girls were
taken away. By now, we should have a definite number, with their faces. Because
these children are registered for WAEC exam, it should not be difficult to get
their data. Thank God for the multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-racial
protests across the globe that has helped to keep up pressure on governments to
do something. Yet, people will connect more to actual names, faces, ages,
aspirations etc. It helps make them more than numbers; it makes them more human.
As we all continue to pray and
contribute in our small ways to efforts to bring back our girls, these
questions will keep gnawing at us until satisfactory answers are proffered to
them.
Sai su’n dawo, we will not rest. #BringBackOurGirls!
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