Home Christian News Freed Nigerian Schoolboys Welcomed; Calls for More Security

Freed Nigerian Schoolboys Welcomed; Calls for More Security

In Chibok, it took weeks of advocacy and outcry from Nigerians, celebrities and the international community before the government acknowledged that the girls had been kidnapped and took action. During that time, Boko Haram had the opportunity to put the girls into smaller groups and move them far away so it would be difficult to find them.

This time, the government deployed forces quickly after the boys’ kidnapping and the abductors rapidly found themselves surrounded, Bukarti said.

Their release is “a fantastic story at the end of an awful week,” he said. “Parents will be reunited with their loved ones … all of Nigeria will breathe a sigh of relief for a good ending.”

UNICEF Nigeria Representative Peter Hawkins called on the attackers to release any other children that may be held from this or other attacks.

“Schools should be safe. Children should never be the target of attack and yet, far too often in Nigeria, they are precisely that – victims of attacks on their schools,” he said.

He called on Nigeria’s government to put better interventions in place “to ensure that schools are safe and that all Nigerian children can learn without fear.”

President Muhamadu Buhari issued welcomed the boys’ release and stated that his government needs to do more to make schools secure from such attacks.

However, many thorny problems remain.

The kidnapping shows that Boko Haram has been able to recruit armed gangs in Nigeria’s northwest, a worrying sign as the criminal gangs have increased attacks in the region this year, killing more than 1,100. While the bandits don’t have ideological motivations, Bukarti said, it has become clear that Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has been able to make alliances with some of them.

“Shekau started courting some of the bandits,” back in January, Bukarti said, referencing a video launched by the Boko Haram leader explaining his ideology and in which the last 15 minutes he spoke in Fulani, the language of most of the bandits in the northwest, including the ones who spoke in the video released by Boko Haram this week. Later, Boko Haram made claims that they had penetrated parts of the northwest.

While that future may not be clear, the boarding school kidnapping shows that there was clear recruitment and Bukarti says that he would go as far as calling some of these local gangs Boko Haram associates now.

Boko Haram may well extend their reach into the northwest, he said, adding that they also got publicity.

“This was a major propaganda point and that’s what Boko Haram and terrorist groups survive on,” he said.

Though the government reaction to this kidnapping was fast — they had a rescue mission by the next day — criticism remains over the government’s handling of violence and how it will continue to grow in the West African nation.

Many Nigerians blame Buhari for the security lapses in the country and the opposition People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) says the abduction of the students in Katsina, the home state of the president while he was on a visit there, raises further serious questions over the government’s capacity to fight insurgency.

The PDP said President Buhari’s inability to manage Nigeria’s security has opened the country “for terrorists, bandits, vandals, and insurgents.”

The attack at the Kankara school highlights the weakness of Nigeria’s security institutions, said Prof. Odion-Akhaine. He fears the country is drifting towards anarchy as a result of the growing insecurity.

“If there is anarchy in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, it will have a serious effect on the sub-region,” he said.


Petesch reported from Dakar, Senegal. AP reporter Haruna Umar in Maiduguri, Nigeria contributed.

This article originally appeared on APNews.com.