A representative of Chibok school girls in Borno, Alamson Ayuba, has spoken about managing expectations on the possible release or rescue of the 287 school children and teachers who were recently abducted from LEA Primary School in Kuriga, Kaduna.
At the same time, stakeholders in the security sector are contemplating what options are open to the government after President Bola Tinubu declared that no ransom will be paid to free the abducted school children in Kuriga, Kaduna or any other state.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP Weekend on the Chibok experience, Ayuba felt families Kuriga need to be mentally strong as families in Chibok still have relatives in captivity more that 10 years after the kidnapping episode.
Alamson Ayuba regretted that 10 years after, about 90 of their girls are still in the custody of Boko Haram terrorists amid government silence.
This is just as the Kaduna State government has barred families of the kidnapped school children in Kuriga from speaking to the media, raising the prospects that the public will lose interest in the children while the government does nothing.
Representatives of the families had met with Governor Uba Sani and other government officials last week.
Since the abduction, the media has struggled to learn the personal stories of the kidnapped children, their family histories and those of the teachers that were also kidnapped.
Ayuba, the Chibok spokesman whose cousin, Bebora Solomon is still in the custody of the terrorists, said many of the parents have suffered various kinds of psychological trauma following the continued captivity of their daughters, while some of the parents died due to their pains.
He regretted that despite the categorisation of Nigeria as giant of Africa, various leaders of the country have failed to secure the lives and property of its citizens.
He urged president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to revisit the issue of the abducted Chibok school girls and see that 90 still in captivity are rescued.
Worried that even Leah Sharibu, the only abducted Dapchi girl is still in captivity over her decision not to denounce her religion.
Ayuba also expressed worry that if government does not take proactive action against the abduction of school children as it is presently extended to Kaduna and Sokoto, most parents and school-age children would lose courage in education.
Security Experts Back President Tinubu’s Stance On Non Negotiation With Bandits
Following the abduction of pupils, students and teachers numbering about 287 last week from LEA Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area, security experts have backed the position of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to negotiate with the bandits.
This is also as one of the experts has advocated that arrested bandits or terrorists be executed.
He believes arresting them, subsequently forgiving and releasing them over time is what has emboldened them to continue in their criminal activities, while they go back stronger.
Recall that after the Kuriga kidnapping , a renowned Kaduna based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, said he was ready to lead a holistic dialogue between the Federal Government and bandits for peace to reign. Speaking exclusively with one of our titles, Sheikh Gumi described the Kaduna state government’s stand against negotiating with the bandits over the abduction of 287 school children of Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA primary schools in Chikun local government area as unfortunate.
Sheikh Gumi advised the government to use the same approach it used in securing the release of Abuja-Kaduna bound train passengers who were kidnapped on their way to Kaduna on 28th March, 2022.
READ ALSO: No Timely Report On Kaduna, Sokoto, Borno Abductions – Defence
Sheikh Gumi in that interview went further to call on the present administration of President Tinubu not to follow the footsteps of former President Muhammadu Buhari who refused to dialogue with bandits.
Sheikh Gumi said, ”The government stand saying they can’t negotiate with the bandits is an unfortunate one. My advice is government should dialogue with the bandits, not only for this Kuriga school children’s abduction but all the cases.
“Also, government should use the same approach it used in releasing passengers that were abducted on Abuja – Kaduna train in 2022 to release the Kuriga school children and others.”
When asked in the interview if he could lead the negotiation between the government and bandits if contacted Gumi said, ”I am ready to lead a holistic dialogue between the government and bandits. It is a religious duty for me to do so for peace.”
Meanwhile, Major Mohammed Galma, a security expert said, the position of the government not to negotiate with bandits is in order.
He also believes that the government must be decisive and not delay if it hopes to secure the freedom of the abducted children as a rescue mission will become more difficult with time.
In an interview with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, he said, “that is a stand you expect from a commander in chief who is very serious and knows the negative implications of such a situation, especially with this type of people who are traceless.
“Do they have any leadership, you only negotiate with people who have leadership or are known. When the Niger Delta boys were agitating, their leadership was known.
“But in the case of these people or bandits, we don’t know who they are. They are faceless. Their bosses are inside the town living with us.” The bandits in the bush, he said, are like labourers doing the dirty job for the people who will actually sit on the money.
“The bandits are working on the directives of their bosses. Their leaders can be within us but we don’t know them. What I can say is that, there is no serious commander in chief of the Armed Forces of his own country that will agree to negotiate with bandits. So what President Tinubu said is very much in order”.
How To Rescue Abducted Children
Major Galma also gave an idea on how the abductees can be rescued.
He said, “The essence of the war college, defence college, staff college and so on where all the top military officers you see go to educate themselves there is for cases like the present situation.
“When you do the field work, you go for staff duties, you combine the two. When you have this combination of knowledge strategically, you will come down and start thinking of how to conduct this kind of rescue operation.
“But they know how to go about it. It is going to be forensically done so that this matter of collateral damage or friendly fire will not come with so much negative impact.
“They know that they have the duties of rescuing young children. So, they have to understand the psychology of these young kids.
“Hopefully, it is expected to be casualty-free, but I cannot tell you that there won’t be any casualties because they likely living in clusters with the bandits.”
He said, “There is the need to take action on time because the longer it takes, the bandits gets wiser, they would have planned on using human shields.”
In an interview with another security expert, Major Abubakar Muhammed was also unforgiving towards the bandits and terrorists.
He said, “President Tinubu is right, he should not negotiate with the bandits or terrorists. My advise is that those caught either bandits or kidnappers , they should be executed immediately.
“There is no need to negotiate with such people who kill their victims most times even after ransom had been paid. When they are caught, they are forgiven at the end and they return back to their kidnapping activities. “Kidnappers or bandits can never repent, they will always come.back because there are people behind them. Negotiation with bandits is never an option. They should be executed when caught,” he stressed.
