ABUJA was yesterday in a foul mood at the National Assembly and on the streets – over the April 15 abduction of school girls and the one-year-old polytechnic teachers’ strike.Women, many of them decked in all-black dresses, demanded action on the fate of the 234 girls who were snatched away from their hostels in Chibok, Borno State.
Senators were locked in a charged session over the abduction by the fundamentalist Boko Haram sect. They unanimously voted for tougher military action against the insurgents whose activities have killed thousands.
The Senate yesterday urged the Federal Government to seek the assistance of the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to rescue the girls.
Besides, senators are to confer with President Goodluck Jonathan to seek ways of curtailing the insurgency.
These resolution followed a motion entitled: “Abduction of School girls in Chibok, Borno State”, sponsored by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba and 107 others.
Some Senators in their contribution blamed the degenerating insurgency on sabotage and collaboration by insiders in the military.
Others wondered why the President has not deemed it fit to visit Borno State to commiserate with the people and boost the morale of the troops on ground.
A Senator from the area gave a graphic account of how the terrorists have been moving the girls from camp to camp in the forest since the day they were abducted.
He named the locations where the girls were being camped.
He lamented that the military did not act on the intelligence he placed at their disposal that could have facilitated early rescue of the girls.
In his lead debate, Ndoma-Egba urged the Senate to note with grief the inhuman abduction.
He told the Upper Chamber, which was just returned from its two-week Easter recess, the incident occurred just when the country was grieving over the rush hour bombing of a bus park in Nyanya near the nation’s capital, Abuja.
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He said when the nation was was trying to come to grips with the bombing that claimed over 75 people and wounded dozens more, the country was struck yet with another devastating blow: the girls’ abduction.
He recalled that the terrorist broke into the Government Secondary School in Chibok, shot the guards and abducted the pupils, taking them away in trucks into the Sambisa forest, a known hideout of the sect.
Ndoma-Egba said prior to the abduction, the school was closed down for four weeks due to the deteriorating security situation in the state, but the pupils were recalled to take their final exams in physics.
He said that the Senate is disappointed that two weeks after their disappearance, the girls’ whereabouts remained unknown.
The senator noted that about 44 of the girls escaped by jumping from the back of the truck used to ferry them away or by sneaking out of the abductor’s camp.
According to him, besides the uncertainty, as to the whereabouts and fate of these innocent girls, whose only crime is to go to school, “is the lack of authentic information from the school authorities, the security agencies and their parents as to the exact number of girls that were abducted and the processes leading to same.”
The lawmaker called on the Senate to be hopeful that the offer of assistance by the United States and Britain to rescue the students would come with all the required technology, including the deployment of the drones which the United States had used to great positive effect in tracking/fighting terrorism elsewhere.
He, however, said that the Senate was afraid that time was fast running out as the girls’ captors may break them into various hideouts.
The Senators unanimously resolved to urge the Federal Government and all security agencies to intensify efforts at bringing back the girls.
They urged the Federal Government and the security agencies to seek assistance of the United Nations, ECOWAS and other countries to rescue the girls.
They also prayed for the safe release of all the abducted girls and urged the government at all levels to provide adequate security for all schools.
Senate President David Mark decried the “callous adoption” of the girls and called for full scale military action against the insurgents.
Mark said it was time to be proactive in attacking the terrorists so much so that it is the insurgents that would beg the nation for dialogue.
He said the insurgents had touched the “heart of the nation”, with the abduction of the girls.
Mark said: “The people we are dealing with are not just locals. They are well trained and they know what they want. They are not terrorists, they are insurgents. And all along we have been reacting. Unless we are proactive, we are not going to get anywhere.
“I have been in the forefront of saying we must go to dialogue with the insurgents, but I think we must take this battle to a level where they also will now call for dialogue.
“We cannot do this unless the locals on the ground there cooperate with the members of the armed forces. Our armed forces are doing their best.
“Those who study insurgency and terrorism know that the locals are extremely important because they must work hand-in-hand with the members of the armed forces.
“This is not a conventional warfare. My prayer is that all hands must be on deck in this war. All of us must begin to appeal to the people in our constituencies.”
The Senate President urged the Federal Government to ensure that the nation is briefed daily on efforts to rescue the girls.
He lamented that the kidnap of the 234 girls would dominate the World Economic Forum scheduled to meet in Nigeria soon.
Said Mark: “I believe that there are external connections because our local terrorists and insurgents cannot do what they are doing. They touch the heart of the nation.
“There is no nation that would sit down and fold their arms and watch women and children killed at random by any group of people. Unless the local environment is conducive, terrorism and insurgency cannot succeed.
“But once it takes root, let’s take note it’s not going to wind up tomorrow morning and my worry is that we should not allow it to get to a level where it becomes a permanent feature in this country. Unless we nip it in the bud now, it will get to that level.
“If we need foreign assistance, the nation should not be ashamed to ask, because the world is such a small global village now that getting assistance for one action or the other is not a shameful thing. It is international cooperation and if we have to, let us go for it.”
Senators mostly from the affected areas spoke on the insurgency.
Senator Ahmed Zannah (Borno Central) said even though he had constantly updated the military about the movement of the terrorists who abducted the girls, all his intelligence reports were not acted upon.
He gave a graphic account of how the insurgents had been moving the girls from one place to another since the abduction.
Zannah said: “Since the beginning of this siege, I kept mute on this issue as far as press releases and press interviews are concerned.
“I have been constantly in touch with the security agencies, telling them the developments, the movement of the girls from one place to the other and then the splitting of the girls and eventually the marriage of these girls by the insurgents.
“What bothers me most is that whenever I inform where these are, after two to three days, they will be moved from that place to another and still, I will go back and inform them that see, this is what is happening.
“I lost hope two days ago when I found out that some of them were moved to Chad and Cameroon.
“Actually, some of them move through the Mandara mountain that is in Gwoza and some of them are just a stone throw from their barracks, even now as I am talking to you, in Cameroon because it is in Kolofata, which is in Cameroon about 15 kilometers or even less to the borders because one of the insurgents called somebody in Bama and said I just got married and said I am now settling in Kolofata’.
“Then three or four days ago, some Fulani men reported that they saw some girls being taken by boats into the Island in Lake Chad and that some of them happened to be between Marte and Mungonu, maybe.
“Maybe, those ones might still be within Nigeria, but that is the current and new base of the insurgents. They just took over that place less than a week and that village is called Chikungudua. The place is the constituency of Senator Maina Mai’ji Lawan.
“But I informed the security agents about the situation and from that place, they can just go into the lake and go to either Chad or Cameroon because it is very open, there are no weeds in the lake and so they can go anywhere.
“They have snatched all the boats around that area, including the one for NNPC, and so they are free to go anywhere without being chased by anybody.
“There are about 40 islands there and they have ejected most of the occupants of the island and they have occupied the islands.
“What is most disturbing is that hitherto, Sambisa was their base and is well known to the military and Nigerian security.
The senator spoke of how he discovered that the terrorists were moving out of Sambisa forest. Even before then, I had been discussing with the military and they said they were going to attack that place, about 15 or 20 days ago, I don’t know what delayed them,” he said, adding:
“But, eventually when they launched the attack, all the insurgents had already gone out of the place. So, I don’t know what is happening.
“Even before then, I even told them about the shrubs in Northern Borno where they stayed last year till after the rainy season.
“Since rainy season is approaching, I told them that these people will leave Sambisa and other areas and go to that shrub but it seems there is no much presence of military around that area up till now and they are now much moving into those shrubs.
“And when they go in, the shrub has some canopy whereby the ground is empty and you cannot see any human or animal movement under that canopy even with aircraft.
“It is the same place where they hid last year and came out after the rainy season without any challenge, they came into the hinterland.
“I don’t know if the military can take very serious and willing action in this matter but if there is no way to fight them, I think we are wasting our time. It all depends on their willingness.
“I was interviewed by the press on whether if the state of emergency was extended, the military would succeed and I said ‘yes, if there was willingness, they will’.
He went on: “Their number is not all that much as being touted and without cooperation from certain group of people within the security agencies, there is no way these people will survive like this.
“But when we talk, they will say we are against them; we are exposing them; we are demoralising their troops. These are the facts.”
“So, unless there is spirit of seriousness on the part of our military, we have no hope of getting those girls; even if we are going to get them, we are going to get them in trickles; maybe getting two, three, four, and five. They are now scattered. So it is not possible for us to get 50, 60,100 in one particular position. This is the position as at today.”
Senator Ali Ndume, (Borno South) noted that the girls would have been rescued if the Federal Government is serious and with proper equipment for the military.
Ndume, who was apparently emotional during his contribution to the debate said: “The 53 girls we have were those that escaped. We have to speak the truth.
“I am a little bit emotional because you cannot understand what we are going through until you visit these areas. The only place there is relative peace is where there are civilian JTF.
“The military deployed there are doing their best, but I cannot ask any of them to do more than what they are doing. You need to see their equipment and there is no motivation.
“Whenever we go there, we buy food. As days go by, most of these girls are divided and forcefully married out. How they do that and where they passed remain a mystery.
“I appreciate the motion but there is no action. We speak to commanders on ground and their complaints are the same: no motivation.
“Their number is few and there is no equipment to match their opponents. Every time we budget trillions of naira for defence but I have not seen any new equipment on ground. The armoured vehicles are those of 1950s.”
Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), noted that the situation was degenerating as a result of internal sabotage
Abaribe said: “In what way would somebody get information, give to the security and nothing happens. There must be internal sabotage; we cannot run away from that.
“While we ponder about this, I joined Nenadi Usman to think about these children and the fact that a few things have happened in the world, people have disappeared and we saw the frantic efforts by those countries to get to the root of the matter to the extent that some people resigned. What manner of ineptitude is this?
“I don’t want to add to what others have said but I want to say that no matter what happens, the buck lies on someone’s table. We are ill-equipped. Have we motivated our security agents enough?
“They are doing their best. With all due respect, has the President visited Borno? We want to see our President visit the place and restore confidence in the people. There is no how you can get information from people who feel they are neglected.”
Senator Mohammed Magoro (Kebbi South) urged the Federal Government to call up reservists to boost the manpower of the military.
He said: “For Nigeria to win the war against insurgents, we must recall the nation’s military reserves, including retired soldiers if need be. Also, neighbouring countries are aiding insurgents. I stand here to say that they are aiding and abetting what is going in the country. If it means revisiting the budgets, we will do so to ensure that we win this war.”
Senator Ehigie Uzamere (Edo South) accused local collaborators in the community of aiding and abetting the kidnap of the girls from a predominantly Christian community.
“We must renegotiate the corporate existence of Nigeria,” he said.
Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) urged the Federal Government to summon the ambassadors of Chad, Cameroon and Niger to brief her on what their governments are doing in the circumstance.
Eze added: “Something has gone wrong with professionalism and unless we arrest the drift, these people are not doing enough.
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