The abducted Chibok girls
The Presidential Fact-Finding Committee on the Abducted Female
Students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, has asked the federal
government to take advantage of foreign support, backed with hi-tech
equipment, to locate the abducted girls and rescue them.
It also called for the beefing up of arms and ammunition of the
military as well as the strengthening of security agencies in the
theatre of operation.
The committee made the recommendations in its 50-page report
submitted to the government and which was obtained exclusively by
PREMIUM TIMES.
The 27-member panel chaired by Ibrahim Sabo, a retired brigadier
general, was inaugurated by former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 6,
2014, to, among other things find out the circumstances leading to the
abduction of the 276 female students of the Government Secondary School,
Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists.
The establishment of the committee followed claims and
counterclaims about the circumstances and the actual number of students
abducted by the terrorists.
The panel submitted its report to then President Jonathan, but its details have never been made public.
In the report, the Committee, which sat for five weeks, said
altogether 276 students out of the 395 female students that registered
for the WAEC examination were abducted by the terrorists.
It further stated that while 57 of the students escaped from the
insurgents after the abduction, the remaining 219 were unaccounted for.
It said five of the 57 students that escaped were found in the bushes near Damboa.
It said at the time the girls were abducted the school was relying
on extant security arrangement and had only two guards while there was
no electricity because its only generator had broken down.
The panel said intelligence available to it at the time it was
submitting its report to government showed that the girls were in
different camps in and around Sambisa Forest, which covers an area of
60,000 square kilometres with scrubby semi desert tangle of low trees
and bushes in the corner of the North-east zone.
“The abducted girls have been split into groups under the watch
of separate syndicates as confirmed from various sightings of the
insurgents at different locations,” it said.
“Another batch of girls is believed to have been transported by canoe to an Island around the Lake Chad.
“Insurgent attacks on communities and markets situated in
Hyuum, Askira Uba LGA, Klakaisa and Sha’awa villages of Damboa LGA in
search of food and other supplies, indicate that some of the girls could
be within the area.”
The Committee suggested two ways of rescuing the girls, namely negotiation and military operation.
It explained that the negotiation initiative would require dialogue
with hostage takers through trusted intermediaries and conflict
mediators while the military option would involve the deployment of
counter-terrorism and/or hostage rescue team, which would undertake a
surgical strike storming the locations where the hostages are held.
It listed the advantages and disadvantages of the two options.
The Committee told the government that in determining which option
to adopt, the advantages and disadvantages of each approach should be
carefully examined in the context of the hostage crisis and new
developments.
“The negotiation initiative is inclusive while the military
option is exclusive to the team that would be involved in the rescue
operation,” the Committee said.
While citing the successful release of the 52 US officials who were
held hostages for 444 days at the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran from 1979
to 1981, the Committee listed the advantages of the negotiation approach
to include a greater likelihood of rescuing the girls alive and safe
from harm and the provision of an opening to broader discussions and
understanding that will eventually lead to a peace agreement.
On the other hand, the Committee said by adopting the military
option, Nigeria would have, among others, complied with the
internationally accepted norms of non-negotiation with terrorists; boost
morale within the country and among the security agencies; and send a
strong message to the insurgents that the government was not weak.
It however noted that the constraints of the option were
insufficient number of mobilized troops; inadequate combat equipment
(power, mobility and communication); porous/unmanned borders with
Cameroun, Chad and Niger Republics, which provide the insurgents the
advantage of safe haven, access to mercenaries and weapons; and time
constraints in the procurement process for combat equipment.
While stating that most of the people it interacted with during its
fact-finding work did not consider the military option advisable “in order to protect the abducted girls,”
the Committee however said should the government decide to adopt the
approach, a thorough assessment of the strength and capability of the
military and the Boko Haram insurgents must be undertaken.
It suggested that the assessment of the military should be in the
areas of personnel, equipment, the terrain, logistics and state of
preparedness of the rescue team at the conflict site and in geographical
location for possible reinforcement.
For the insurgents, it said, “there should be an appreciation of their supply route, personnel, fire power, camouflage tactics and guerrilla war strategy. “
The Committee said from its findings the insurgents are armed with
sophisticated military hardware such as Armoured Personnel Carriers
(APCs), Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), among
other weapons.
It said, “The sophistication of their equipment has emboldened
the insurgents leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of
their attacks. The Nigerian military and other security agencies should
be provided with additional and superior weapons to counter the
insurgents.”
The Committee also recommended that the military should review its rules of engagement to appropriately counter the insurgents.
It asked the government to also fully co-opt the Youth Volunteer
Group, otherwise known as Civilian JTF and the Shuwa tribe into the
search and rescue of the Chibok girls.
Source: Premium Times
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