Abducted schoolgirls moved to border villages

Senator fears students may have been forced into marriage

… Senate seeks ‘decisive military action’ against Boko Haram
Abuja Senate yesterday pleaded with the United Nations (UN) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to urgently intervene and deploy forces to assist Nigeria in rescuing the 234 abducted female students of Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok in Borno State. This is even as a senator revealed that they may have been moved to Chad and Cameroon.

Senate President David Mark will also meet with the security chiefs on the issue and report back to the chamber.

In his welcome speech after the Easter break, Mark said citizens should be under no illusions that with the current spate of insurgency, Nigeria is at war. He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to identify sources of funding for the Islamist militants, their sponsors and go beyond the declaration of state of emergency in the three states of the North-East.

Mark called on the President to launch a military offensive against Boko Haram.

Said Mark: “There is no doubt that our nation is at war. The enemy has clearly and unequivocally served the nation notice of its vile intentions. Therefore, a clear, unambiguous and decisive military response from the government, beyond the imposition of a state of emergency, is urgently required in this circumstance. This is an option we must consider now.

“It is obvious that we are dealing with insurgents and  well funded nihilists who are determined to violently trample upon the secularity of the Nigerian state and destroy the country. A modern, vibrant, progressive, multi-ethnic, multi-religious Nigeria is an anathema to them. Because they are fired by zealotry and extremism, they are not likely to be swayed by overtures of any kind.  We must henceforth shift from fighting terrorism to fighting insurgency.

“The government must do all it can to immediately identify the sponsors and the source of funds to the terrorists and the insurgents. In this connection, nobody who is implicated, no matter how highly placed, should be treated as a sacred cow.

“The tragedy is that at a time of grave national emergency like this when every Nigerian should stand in unity and openly rebuke evil, some of our countrymen and women, unfortunately only see this as an opportunity for partisan politics…”

On resumption of plenary, the chamber debated a motion on the abduction of the female students sponsored by 108 senators led by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN).

Senate condemned “the callous abduction of the girls” and also urged the Federal Government and all security agencies to intensify efforts at immediate rescue of the abducted girls.

The chamber also resolved that “the Federal Government and the security agencies should seek the cooperation of ECOWAS and the UN.”

The lawmakers prayed for “the safe release of all the abducted girls” and urged “the Federal Government to provide adequate security for schools and public places in their areas.”

Senators from Borno opened up on Boko Haram in their state, disclosing the four camps wing used by the sect as well as giving details of how the military failed to act on information passed to them about their activities.

Leading the debate, Ndoma-Egba disclosed that the Senate is “disappointed that two weeks after their disappearance, the girls’ whereabouts are still unknown. Prior to the attack and abduction, the school was closed down for four weeks due to the deteriorating security situation in the state, but were only recalled to their final exams in Physics.”

Thereafter, Mark called Senator Ahmed Zanna, (Borno Central) to contribute to the debate.

The chamber was held spell-bound by Zanna’s revelations on how he has given information to the military and how, after such disclosures, Boko Haram would move the girls from such hideouts.

He also supplied the current location of the girls, but expressed pessimism about the rescue of all the 234 girls.

His words: “I’ve been in touch with the security agencies; telling them of the movement of these girls, splitting of the girls into groups and the eventual marriage of the girls.

“What bothers me is that whenever I inform them of of the location of the girls, they will be moved. I lost hope when I learnt that they were moved to Chad and Cameroon.

“They are now in Kolofata, 15 kilometres from the Nigerian border because one of the insurgents called somebody in Bama that he’s just got married and he’s settling in Kolofata. Some Fulani herdsmen reported seeing the girls being moved from Sambisa forest in Borno.

“This is the new base of the insurgents and that place is called Chukunguduwa but I was informed that this is their current base. From there, they can enter either Chad of Cameroon, having snatched all the boats in that area, including the ones operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

“There are about 40 islands in that area. They’ve ejected almost all the residents in that area. Sambisa Forest used to be their base and they’ve started moving out of there.

“I told the military. That was supposed to have been done about 20 days ago. By the time the military launched their attacks, they’ve already moved out of that Sambisa Forest. They’ve moved into a place where shrubs protect them.

“Their number is that much as is being touted. Without the cooperation of some persons in the military, there’s no hope of getting these girls. They are now scattered; even if they’re recovered, it will be in trickles, maybe in two’s or three’s definitely not in large numbers of 60’s,” he said.