By Prarthana Mitra
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has returned 104 girls kidnapped earlier this year from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi in Yobe State.
Negotiating with Boko Haram
On February 19 insurgents disguised as members of the armed forces stormed into the school and kidnapped 110 people. Exactly one month later, most were freed and returned to their families. But this was tempered by fear and widespread suspicion that a hefty ransom had to be paid by the Nigerian government in exchange for their lives.
The girls were released at about 3 AM on Wednesday through back-channel efforts and with the help of some friends of the country, said Nigerias information minister. Three of the hostages were driven to their village by the militants, while the rest were transported to their school by a bus.
What Boko Haram said when releasing the girls
Kachalla Bukar, the secretary of the Dapchi schoolgirls parents group, described what transpired when Boko Haram members arrived in the village to release the girls:
When they came, they told us that they were returning the girls not because somebody gave them money, but out of their free will. We thanked them.”
Then they told us that we must never return our girls to western school again; we said we will do as said. They preached to us for some time, and we said we will heed to their sermons.”
They shook our hands and asked us to forgive them for whatever pains that they might have caused us; then we shook hands and they asked us to snap photos with them using their mobile phone, which we all did.
Propaganda coup or not, Dapchi incident bears testimony to military inefficiency
Such negotiations with terrorist organisations are internationally frowned upon, as such incentives only encourage and fuel their audacity to commit more crimes against humanity.
According to The New York Times, this may all be a major propaganda coup for Boko Haram as villagers have expressed enough criticism and outrage at the lack of decisive action to prevent the capture or a rescue operation by the Nigerian military. Amnesty International reported that security forces had been called hours before the attack, warning them that Boko Haram was heading to Dapchi, but no help arrived. Although federal officials were reluctant to comment at first, local officials later misinformed the parents that their daughters been rescued, leading to a small riot by parents.
On Wednesday, the families expressed annoyance that the government wanted to debrief the girls at Nigerias capital Abuja immediately when their parents had just received them back. Dapchi resident and leader of a parents support group Bashir Manzo, has been quoted by The Week as saying, These girls were not accompanied by any security personnel. Their abductors brought them, dropped them outside the school and left, without talking to anyone.
We will get to know more details from the girls about their predicament while in captivity.
Western education is forbidden
President Muhammadu Buhari said last week that the Nigerian government had over military force to hasten the safe return of the Dapchi girls, adding, It is better to get our daughters back alive.
American military officials the girls were released because the faction of Boko Haram responsible for the kidnapping does not encourage the kidnapping of Muslim students. The sole Christian student from among those kidnapped at Dapchi is still being held hostage after reportedly refusing to be converted to Islam.
Other sources report that the girls had been returned out of pity, adding that the militants issued a stern warning for the parents: dont you ever put your daughters in school again.
Boko Haram essentially translates to Western education is forbidden and the group strongly opposes the education of women.The Dapchi kidnapping rang with painful echoes of the abduction in 2014 of 276 school girls in a town in Chibok in Borno state. The incident had sparked the global #bringbackourgirls social media campaign. Although about many girls escaped, were found and released, over 100 are still thought to be hostages of Boko Haram.