Mixed reactions trail Dapchi girls’ release-Voxpop

 

On Saturday, last week, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, appeared on Channel Television’s Sunrise Daily and claimed that measures were being put in place to ensure the girls’ release in the next two weeks. PAUL OKAH speaks with Nigerians on the claim.
The minister has a lot of questions to answer
Nigerians want to know the true situation of things with regards to the kidnapped Dapchi Girls. There are many things the Minister of Defense should clarify.
But then again, how is the minister so sure that these girls will be released in two week’s time? Who are their abductors? Where are the girls being kept at the moment? What are the abductors asking for in return for their release? The minister needs to give us these answers. It is not enough for him to give us high hopes by saying that he is doing his best to make sure the girls are released in two week’s time, without telling us who abducted them, and why.
Blaise Ibe, an IT expert.

What’s defence minister’s role?
First, I will recommend that the defense minister should be fired, especially after this statement regarding the recovery of the Dapchi Girls. We don’t need to be trained military personnel to know that his statements jeopardizes any measures aimed at finding these girls. Anyone wise enough must not inform his or her enemy of the day he will attack.
Why give a timeframe for a supposedly covert military operation? Moreover, if President Buhari’s ridiculous claim of eradicating Boko Haram few months into power couldn’t do it, then who is the Defense Minister to defeat Boko Haram insurgents?
Mbrey Chimaobi, a fashion designer.

It is all politics
All these political kidnappings have a lot of hidden agenda that the Nigerian society are ignorant of. Let’s look at the withdrawal of the Army from Dapchi before these girls were kidnapped. This action shangais my thoughts towards a discord between the Presidency and the Army, especially as the question of who issued the instruction to withdraw the troops lingers. Except if the Nigerian military is operating on mere suspicions, I believe we have an able to-do military officers that are not scared of facing terrorist groups. As the 2019 general elections draws closer, I am tempted to believe that the kidnapping of Dapchi girls and the revelation of the Minister of Defense that they will be released in two week’s time is a well scripted play by the presidenncy to win the hearts of many Nigerianns. But we should not be taken in yet until the girls are released. We can be proud of nearing a solution to the problem of kidnappings in the country when the Chibok girls are also released. But until then, the APC government is playing politics with us.
Rosemary Mbe, a political scientist.

The Minister should be strategic
While “Glasnost” is a well-liked philosophical concept, I believe there are some things the government should not tell its citizens. He shouldn’t come on air to announce his blueprint for rescuing the kidnapped girls. Using the Chibok girls as a case study, the girls were first taken to a hideout, where they were housed in one of the prominent politicians house. When the pressure became too much, the kidnappers relocated them. What that means is that same thing can happen here if the same pressure goes the abductors’ way. That’s why I said that no country completely employs the glasnost model. Even if he knows the hideout of the kidnappers and aware of the whereabouts of the girls, he should keep it to himself and apply the element of surprise, instead of revealing his intentions to the whole world. In fact, his putative submission has led me to believe that the girls will not return in a fortnight.
Michael Otu, a teacher.

Handiwork of cabals in the government
Everything happening in Nigeria at the moment has a political undertone. I was reflecting on the kidnapping of the Dapchi girls and it struck me that it is happening just few months to the general election. It appears that there are strong cabals in the government behind the kidnapping of both the Dapchi and Chibok girls. I feel that the girls are not missing and that they will be released before the election. It will be a political strategy to buy the conscience of the masses, in order to tarnish the image of the previous government.
Hope Ezinwa, a graduate.

It is being stage-managed
I doubt if the Dapchi girls will be released in two week’s time, except if it is the Minister of Defense that is responsible for their kidnap. The Chibok girls were kidnapped at the peak of the Boko Haram menace, over 3 years now and they are not yet accounted for. For all I know, some of them might have died, while others might have suffered severe and life threatening ailments. Even if the Dapchi girls are released in two week’s time, they will not be the same set that were kidnapped. I think the APC government intend to stage-manage another homecoming for the Dapchi girls, like they did sometime last year for the Chibok girls. In fact, the APC government is sponsoring the menace. How come the moment the PDP ceded power to them the menace reduced to the barest minimum within months? This question is begging for an answer.
Joseph Omosimua, a trader.

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