How we negotiated Dapchi girls’ release – DSS

 

Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS, Lawal Daura, has given insight into how the Service negotiated the release of 105 Dapchi school girls.

Speaking on Friday when President Muhammadu Buhari received the school girls at the State House Presidential Villa, Abuja, Daura recalled that the president had given “a clear directive to security agenciesto use peaceful options to ensure the timely and safe release of the girls.”
He said what followed that directive was “intense behind-the-scene dialogue spearheaded by the Department of State Services.”

Daura said the insurgents’ only condition was their demands for cessation of hostilities and temporary ceasefire to enable them return the girls at the point they picked them.

He said they also required assurances that the government security forces would keep to that request.

“The exercise was arduous and quite challenging. The sensitivity of the operation and some uncertainties surrounding it, particularly routes to be used, nature of transportation, realisation and concern that the girls were not kept at one place, issues of encountering military checkpoints within the theater and indeed keeping the operation on strictly the principle of need-to-know made the whole exercise more complicating,” he said.

The DSS chief said beyond the release of the abducted girls, the primary interest of the service for engaging in the dialogue was informed by the need for permanent, possible cessation of hostilities.

Other interests, he said, include discussing the fate of the arrested insurgents and innocent Nigerian citizens being held hostage and the possibility of granting amnesty to repentant insurgents.

He said these factors “presently seem problematic because the insurgents are factionalised while holding various spheres of influence in their guerrilla controlled enclaves.”

Daura said the “negative impact of social media on otherwise classified operations, and of course, some of the utterances of the government functionaries who were not competent to comment on the issues, posed challenges that almost marred the rescue efforts.”

The DSS boss said on their release, the girls were taken into the SSS medical facility where they were put through programmes to give them mental stability.

“As such, they are given psychological mental evaluation conducted by trained specialists. About four were discovered to have broken limbs and were sent for x-ray. Almost all of them had one skin infection or the other having not taken bath for over a month. They have been medically examined, and those with ailments were treated. The measures are to ensure that they are in good health,” he said.

He also said all the girls, including four representatives of their school, the principal and deputy, their parents were brought into the medical facility as part of measures to relieve tension and anxiety.

He said the presence of these representatives have further reassured and stabilised the girls.

Daura also told the president that in view of the nation’s experience through these years of insurgency, he suggested that efforts must be sustained towards ensuring the release of all abducted persons in the North East Theatre of Operation.

He also advocated improvement in the strategic plan for the safety of schools in vulnerable locations, using all available national assets.
Daura said the government should also improve on the coordination efforts amongst security agencies to avoid future incidents.
He also said there was need to expand the current dialogue towards conflict mitigation and resolution, with a view to getting an everlasting peace for the entire sub-region.

Daura told President Buhari that apart from the girls, two additional young Primary School pupils namely; Hafsat Haruna, 11, primary six pupil and Mala Maina, 13, also, a primary six pupil, were released and were in the gathering.

He said six more Dapchi girls “are yet to be accounted for, and dialogue on these students is still on-going.”

Buhari warns

Meanwhile, the President has warned that, henceforth, security agencies would deal decisively with anyone trivialising abductions and military operations aimed at securing the lives of Nigerians.

He also warned security chiefs to sit up, stressing that any lapses on their part would have severe consequences.

He said: “We entered into negotiations solely to make sure that no single girl was hurt. This strategy paid off as the girls have been released without any incidents. “The security services have since been directed to put in place further measures around all schools vulnerable to attacks to ensure the safety of our pupils/students and teachers and school workers.

“I have tasked all the security agencies to work to ensure that we do not witness any recurrence of these incidents. Security Chiefs have been warned in clear terms that any lapse on their parts will be viewed seriously. To the rescued students, we want to reassure you as our daughters, that you will freely live and pursue your dreams in Nigeria of peace and order, without fear of violence or molestation.”

Continuing, he said: “While parents of the Dapchi girls rejoice because of the reunion with their children, I want to appeal to the Chibok Community never to lose hope or to despair. We are determined as never before, to bring back our remaining Chibok daughters. And this, we must accomplish. And that will be soon by God’s grace.

“While further efforts are being made to secure the release of every abducted citizen in Nigeria, government is ever ready to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the Boko Haram group, who show strong commitment in that regard. We are ready to rehabilitate and integrate such repentant members into the larger society. This country has suffered enough of hostility. Government is, therefore, appealing to all to embrace peace for the overall development of our people and the country.

“May I also warn against those elements that have chosen to make political fortune of our citizens’ misfortune. Government would not tolerate any attempt by any person or group to trivialise or politicise security issues for politically motivated ends. Accordingly, security agencies would not hesitate to decisively deal with such unscrupulous characters.”

CAN reacts

Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Friday expressed worry over Liya Sharibu, the only Christian girl among them who is still in captivity for refusing to denounce her faith.

President of CAN, Samson Ayokunle, in a statement by his spokesman, Adebayo Oladeji, said the development had confirmed its position that the primary targets of the terrorists were the Nigerian Christians.

The statement read in part: “We are deeply troubled and disturbed that negotiators brought in by the federal government made feeble attempts to secure the release of Liya Sharibu who insisted on not renouncing her faith and converting to Islam, a development that affirmed that Christians are endangered in their own country.

“To us, the development has brought to the fore past incidents in which some Christian girls were kidnapped, forcefully converted to Islam and forced into marriages without the consent of their parents in some states in the North.

“Liya Sharibu is still being kept in the captivity, facing untold psychological trauma and yet the federal government was keeping mum until people cried out on the social media as if her life does not amount to anything!”

Continuing, it read: “It is more regrettable that the Amnesty International and the military authorities have still not come to terms on the perceived negligence by the security agencies that led to abduction of Dapchi girls, a development we view as a national disgrace especially when we recall the unpatriotic roles some security operatives reportedly played in the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014.
It further demanded that Liya Sharibu must be set free.

“The federal government should set up a high power judicial panel to investigate the abduction of the school girls with a view to unmasking those behind the abduction and make them face the full wrath of the law.

“The report of the panel purportedly set up by the Presidency to investigate the abduction should be released immediately to the public. The National Assembly should conduct a Public Hearing on the Dapchi abduction saga to expose any cover up.

“The immediate release of the remaining Chibok girls from the Boko Haram captivity and re-union with their families; total re-organisation of the security agencies aligned with professionalism that will make them respond rapidly to security challenges in any part of the country. We desire a proactive security system.”

NUT on adequate security

Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has called on the federal government to provide adequate security to boarding schools, especially those in the North-east or run them as day schools. Secretary-General of the union, Dr. Mike Ike-Ene, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, while reacting to the recent release of some abducted Dapchi girls.

According to him, it is necessary for the government to put the right security measures in place and not to wait until something happens; the life of any Nigerian child is not worth losing carelessly.

He said that the incidence was a lesson to everyone, urging the government to strengthen the security apparatus of the country to prevent future occurrence.

“I am saying that government should look at our security apparatus; if they cannot ensure 24 hours service of security in our schools in the North-east let them stop boarding schools.

“Children can come to school from their homes and the moment the students are in the school premises security should be provided until the school closes.

“The security agencies should also be placed in all the entrance by which people can use to enter the host communities or escape.

“There must be a proper structure provided for a particular security agency at the security posts.

“Also, having a particular security agency to be in charge of a particular security post in various schools will help to detect when things are going wrong.

“The effort will help to reduce the number of victims if there is emergency situation,’’ he said.

Ike-Ene noted that in the North-east there was always gap for the girl-child education, saying that this incidence of abduction in schools could put more fear and terror in their lives.

His said “even the parents too may now be unwilling to allow their children, especially the female to go to school due to the fear of the unknown.’’

Ike-Ene, however, commended the federal government for being proactive in securing the release of the abducted girls.
He also appealed to the government to use same approach to ensure the release of the remaining girls as well as the other Chibok girls.
“We are still anxious to see the remaining girls, because they are our students; we still want them back. We want to praise this government and we are asking them to do more.”

Nigerians, families relieved – EU

The European Union (EU) delegation in Nigeria said on Friday that the release of majority of the abducted school girls in Dapchi, Yobe state, brought relief to Nigerians and majority of families affected by the incident.

Of the 110 school girls kidnapped in February, 104 were released by the Boko Haram insurgents, while five were said to have died during the kidnap.

One of the girls, Leah Sharibu, is said to still be in captivity with the terrorists for refusing to put on a hijab and renounce her Christian faith.
Spokesperson for the EU’s Foreign Affairs & Security Policy of the delegation, Catherine Ray, said in a statement sent to Premium Times on Friday that the return of the girls to their families provided an opportunity for them to rebuild their lives.

“It is with great relief that we learnt about the release of the majority of the abducted Dapchi girls in Nigeria. They can now return to their families and have the opportunity to rebuild their lives,” she said.

Ms. Ray expressed the condolences of the EU delegation to the families and friends of the girls who lost their lives during their over one-month sojourn with the insurgents.

“We renew our solidarity with all the girls still held captive and call for their liberation. We commend the Nigerian Government for its resolve in obtaining the release of the girls, and support that urgent measures are taken to avoid repeated abductions and violence.
“All young people have a right to safe education and the EU will work with Nigeria in supporting efforts to secure this objective.”

Dead girl’s dad laments

Father of Aisha Adamu, one of the Dapchi school girls who lost their lives while in Boko Haram captivity, Adamu Jumbam, said he was not happy with the federal government and its security forces whom he blamed for his death.

Of the 110 school girls kidnapped in Dapchi in February, 104 were released by the Boko Haram, five died during the kidnap while one remains with the terrorists for allegedly refusing to put on a hijab and renounce her Christian faith.

Jumbam, who stated this in Dapchi village where he is currently mourning his 16-year-old daughter, questioned the circumstances that surrounded the abduction and subsequent release of the girls by Boko Haram.

Speaking in tears, the middle-aged resident of Jumbam village, said rather than the federal troops combating the insurgents after they came back to drop the girls, the soldiers simply “watched with folded arms while the insurgents left triumphantly.”

Speaking amidst a large crowd of mourners and sympathisers that throng his family home in Jumbam, the bereaved father said he has lost faith in the federal government.

“It was my worst moment in life when was told she died. It has been a huge bereavement that befell me on Wednesday when these poor schoolgirls were returned and I rushed out to welcome them only to be told that my daughter was among those that lost their lives.

“I was told that they died on the way, and the Boko Haram simply dug the ground and buried them. This confirms that I have lost her, so we the family have nothing more to do for her than to mourn her.”

Jumbam said despite his bereavement, many of them in Dapchi could not understand the “mystery of the abduction and the drama of the girls’ release on Wednesday.”

“We have no option than to still commend the government for seeing that most of the children that were taken from us have been brought back.”

“But what bemused us most is that, it is very shocking and surprising to say that Boko Haram came into this community, picked our children without any one challenging them, and then brought them back on their own, dropped them in the town and then returned. That development has really unsettled most of us here in Dapchi.

“Every right thinking Nigerian should be disturbed by this development. Anyway, we are villagers and may not have insight to the undercurrent of what has been going on in this country. But to say the least, we have been cheated and dehumanised.”

“They brought these kids to Dapchi, dropped them in market area, spent about 30 minutes in the community, then turned their vehicles and left. None of our security agencies that had been surrounding this community since February 19, made any move to go after them.

“Everyone saw them drive back via the route that they used to enter Dapchi. They even took their time to fix one of their vehicles before leaving. No single shot was fired at them. That was how soldiers watched and supervised their safe exit from Dapchi.”
According to him, government is not sincere in its approach.

“We don’t know what was happening. But it seemed this government is only deceiving us or playing politics with the lives of our children.
If they say Nigeria is no longer safe for us, that our security forces cannot protect us, then perhaps they should allow us to go to somewhere where the government cares about the security of its people.

“Can anything be more surprising than this? How can you beat a situation where a thief came to steal your property, harmed members of your household, then few days later, the same thief came with the stolen item, dropped it for you and left, while everyone was watching and almost applauding him.

“These Boko Haram gunmen came back in broad day, confidently as though they were the ones in authority. What else could be more surprising than this? It is a clear sign that this country is gradually becoming a failed state where security is not guaranteed; where the government has to bury its shame and tell everyone to take his or her security into their own hands, because they can no longer protect us.

“My daughter, Aisha Adamu, was 16-years-old, a bright little girl that wanted to be a scientist in the future. She was in her fifth year in secondary school. It was her friends who came back that informed about her death. When I asked after her, they said ‘oh baba (father), your daughter Maidanwake (her pet name at home) lost her life on the way to the bush.’ She was fasting when she died.”

Leave a Reply