Boko Haram: The Swap Option

It has been five weeks of
suppressed anger, fragile peace, anxiety, trauma, hate and suspicion from a large chunk of Nigerian population following the abduction of well over 200 school girls at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State. Indeed, religious organizations, global bodies, various governments across the globe have risen to condemn the dastardly act against humanity.
It is for this reason that United States, Britain, China, France, Israel and many more sovereign nations have volunteered their security expertise to tackle the menace of Boko Haram sect in Nigeria.
For the past two weeks, Nigeria’s landscape has been under the increasing surveillance of the international community in a bid to secure the release of the Chibok school girls from their vicious and ruthless captors. The Boko Haram sect has offered to send the girls back home if the Nigerian government will reciprocate the “gesture” by freeing their members who are held in various parts of the country.
The leader of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad otherwise known as Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, in a video released last Monday, offered to free the school girls who were kidnapped by his fighters last month in exchange for the Boko Haram detainees. The 27-minute video showed a reasonable number of girls dressed in black hijab, reciting the opening chapter of the Qur’an in an undisclosed location.
“All I am saying is, if you want us to release your girls that were kidnapped, you must release our brethren that are held in Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos and up to Enugu. We know that you have incarcerated our brethren all over this country,” the Agence France Press quoted Shekau as saying in the video.
He continued; “There are some of our brethren who have spent five complete years without seeing their wives, without seeing their children. There is even a woman that you released but refused to let her go with her baby. For God’s sake, even for ensuring their release, will I not kidnap? After all, Allah says I should kidnap.
“You that seized and detained my brethren for five years, you arrested and kept a woman without getting married for four years, you sieze and held our children.
“I will sell them, I repeat. And by Allah you will never get them until the day you release our brethren you seized and detained”.
In a swift reaction to the Boko Haram offer, Federal government officials came out with contradictory statements on government’s position, thus creating confusion in the minds of Nigerians and other members of the international community who are monitoring events in the country.
The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro told newsmen that the Federal government was closing in on the abductors and would not bow to their demands.
“Boko Haram has been designated a terrorist organization, hence it is unthinkable if this group gave out condition for anything to the government.
“As you know, Nigeria has invited international countries and we are closing in on them. There is no doubt that everybody has been eager to see that these girls are released, but in everything, there is supposed to be rules of game.
“Hence, no amount of pressure on Nigeria as an independent nation will make us to bow out. We know that this way is part of the rules of engagement, but as government, it needs to exert its powers towards adherence to the rules”, Moro said.
Also speaking, the Senate President, David Mark ruled out any form of negotiation with the Boko Haram insurgents, and assured that the Federal government would do everything possible to eradicate terrorism in the country.
“Boko Haram has become a real nuisance, and the menace is unacceptable. They have declared war on Nigeria and we will fight them with all the resources at our disposal.
“We will not allow it to go on for too long; government is very serious about it.
“It is an avoidable distraction and it is something we do not need at this point in our history when we are trying everything possible to bring development to Nigeria, to attract foreign investors.
“So, the message should go out loud and clear to anyone who is either a sponsor or a member of  Boko Haram that we will fight them with all resources at our disposal”, Mark said.
The Director-General of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mike Omeri, however, in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, said “Government is reviewing the content of the video and the accompanying statement issued by the sect.
“Government will continue to explore all options for the release and safe return of our girls back to their homes.
“An earlier report by a section of the media purported to have been issued by government is totally false. This remains the official position of the Federal government of Nigeria”.
Pressed several times to confirm whether the federal government was going to negotiate with Boko Haram insurgents or exchange prisoners for the girls, he insisted that all options were open to the government.
“I still say all options are open. At the moment, all options are open. We are interacting with military and security experts from different parts of the world. So, there are part of the options that are left for us. There are more. If it is necessary that we use any action to get our girls, we will do it”, he said.
The Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki on his part, called on the leader of the sect to come for dialogue to end the onslaught on the Nigerian nation.
Turaki who is also the chairman of the committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to broker peace with the insurgents, said Shekau should demonstrate his sincerity by sending the representatives of the Boko Haram sects for negotiation with government.
According to him, “Dialogue is a key option in bringing the crisis to an end and that an inssue of this nature can be resolved outside violence”.
However, Director of Information at the Department of State Security, Ms Maryln Ogar, said negotiating with the terrorists was not an option.
“No government in the world will negotiate with terrorists. That is the best practice and we believe in the global best practice”, she said.
On the identity of the spokesperson for Boko Haram in the released video, Ogar insisted that the original leaders of the group, Abu Kaka and Shekau had been taken out by the security agencies.
“I think we have said on several occasions that Boko Haram has become a franchise. So, when you talk about Abu Kaka; when you talk about Shekau, Boko Haram has become a franchise. Anybody anywhere in the country can get up and assume Shekau and Kaka. Kaka is no more. Abubakar Shekau is no more. Both of them have been taken out a long time ago”, Ogar added.
The parents of the abducted school girls also commented on the Boko Haram video. A parent, Mallam Awana Babagana said with the release of the video, the parents believed their daughters were still alive and called on the federal government to do everything possible to secure the release of their daughters.
He said: “I have seen the video but I couldn’t identify my daughter. I hope they are the ones, we will keep on praying until they are released.
Another parent who spoke on condition of anonymity said he had the opportunity to watch the video, but he didn’t identify any of his missing daughters.
Also, another father of the kidnapped girls said that he would rather let his child die than have her converted to Islam or be exchanged for Boko Haram prisoners.
Speaking to the Telegraph of London, the man whose name was not mentioned for the safety of his daughter, said, “I have not yet seen the video, but I am not really interested in what Boko Haram’s demands are.
“My daughter is a Christian, she will never change. I would rather prefer she dies a Christian than convert to Islam.
“I don’t  want a prisoner exchange either, our daughters are not prisoners and they should not be exchanged for anyone.
“Let the government try to rescue them. If they have a prisoner exchange, that will look like the government is giving in to Boko Haram and it will just encourage them to take more hostages. They will never stop”, he said.
For pundits however, whatever option that is most acceptable to government at this point in time is immaterial as Nigerians and indeed the entire world are more concerned about the safety and home-coming of the abducted school girls.

Reward Akwu