Abducted girls: Police offer N50m reward for info

The Nigeria police on Wednesday announced a cash reward of N50m for anyone who volunteers information that could lead to the location and rescue of the female students abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

The police action came on the heels of local and international clamour for the Federal Government to ensure the safety and rescue of the girls.

The female pupils, about 234 of them, were abducted from their hostels on April 14.

The violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, had on Monday released a video in which the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls were abducted by members of his group and that he would sell them off.

“I abducted your girls; I will sell them in the market, by Allah,”the maniacal leader of the sect said.

 A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba on Wednesday in Abuja called on the public to be part of the solution to the current security challenge in the country.

It reassured the citizens that any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality.

The Force urged all patriotic citizens with useful information to contact the following numbers: 09-2914649; 08081777309; 08055547536; 08032125050; 08034617591and 0803596973.

 Foreign help

Beyond condemning insecurity in the country, however, foreign countries have responded positively to Jonathan’s call for assistance.

The Presidency said on Tuesday that Jonathan had accepted an offer from the United States as part of efforts to rescue the Chibok girls.

“President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday welcomed and accepted a definite offer of help from the United States of America in the ongoing effort to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government (Girls) Secondary School, Chibok three weeks ago,” the President’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, said in a statement.

 The US said it would send a security team to Nigeria to help assist the government in finding the abducted girls.

White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, said that the US would provide military personnel, intelligence and hostage negotiators to help the government.

Carney said, “There is a utility to having U.S. military personnel and experts on intelligence” on the ground in Nigeria, “and hostage negotiators to assist and advise the Nigerian government as they deal with this challenge.”

Abati also said on Wednesday that offers had come from the British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, and the Premier of China, Mr. Li Keqiang, to assist the Federal Government in its efforts to rescue the schoolgirls.

 The presidential spokesman, in another statement on Wednesday said, “In furtherance of efforts by the Federal Government to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government (Girls) Secondary School, Chibok, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Wednesday requested and received a commitment from Britain to deploy its intelligence gathering resources in support of Nigeria’s security agencies currently engaged in the search and rescue operation.

“President Jonathan who spoke with the British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, on the phone after meeting with Premier Li Keqiang of China who is on an official visit to Nigeria, asked and received a promise of the deployment of British Satellite Imaging capabilities and other advanced tracking technologies in support of the ongoing effort.

“The President thanked Mr. Cameron, the British Government and people for their concern over the fate of the abducted girls and their willingness to provide concrete assistance to save the girls from the terrorists who  seized them from their school.

“He told the Prime Minister that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will liaise with the British Government through its High Commission in Nigeria to work out practical details of the promised support and collaboration against terrorism.

“The Peoples’ Republic of China has also offered to assist in the effort to rescue the abducted girls.

“In talks with President Jonathan earlier today, Premier Li Keqiang  promised that his country will make any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence services available to Nigeria’s security agencies.

“Mr. Keqiang assured the President that China will support Nigeria’s fight against terrorism in every possible way, including the training of military personnel for anti-insurgency operations.”

France also on Wednesday offered to send security service agents to Nigeria to help in the rescue efforts, the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said.

“The President has instructed … to put the (intelligence) services at the disposal of Nigeria and neighbouring countries,” Fabius, according to Reuters, told lawmakers.

“This morning he asked us to contact the Nigerian president to tell him that a specialised unit with all the means we have in the region was at the disposal of Nigeria to help find and recover these young girls.

“In the face of such ignominy France must react. This crime cannot be left unpunished,” Fabius said.

‘No soldiers in Chibok’

One of the parents of the abducted girls has described the Federal Government as unserious, saying that even after the abduction of over 200 girls from the village, there was still no security presence in Chibok.

He alleged that no one except the parents had gone into the forest, where the girls are believed to be held to look for them.

The father, who did not identify himself for fear of reprisals from terrorists and government officials, said this in an interview with Cable News Network on Wednesday.

The parent said this while reacting to the government’s claims that several troops had been deployed in various locations in a bid to rescue the schoolgirls.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, during a CNN interview on Tuesday had said, “We’ve done a lot but we are not talking about it. We’re not Americans. We’re not show-off people, you know, but it does not mean that we are not doing something.”

However, the unidentified parent said, “We have never seen any military man there; had it been military men went into the bush to rescue our daughters, we would have seen them.”

The father said he had been going into the forest with a bow and arrow to look for his daughter and that he was disappointed that no one was helping him.

The father alleged that members of Boko Haram still lived in Chibok and they knew he was searching for his daughter.

He said he had relocated his family into a bush for safety.

“Life is very dangerous in Chibok right now. Since April 14 till date, we don’t sleep at home,” the father said.

The father said that starting around five or six o’clock in the evening, “people will disappear into the bush because there is no security.”

“We sleep in the bush with all of our little ones,” he said.

Narrating how the abduction took place, the father said it began with an explosion so loud that it shook buildings in Chibok, followed by the sound of gunfire echoing into the dark night.

He said by the time he made it to the Government (Girls) Secondary School, the militants had already opened fire on security guards and set buildings on fire.

“When I went into the school compound, nobody could stand it,” said the man, who was not being identified for fear of reprisals from attackers or the government.

“You will see their dresses cut out all over. And the hostel and dormitory, everything was bombed into ashes. So this man told us they have gone with our daughters. We couldn’t believe him.”

  Suspects arrested in Niger

At least three members of Boko Haram were arrested in neighbouring Niger Republic on Tuesday after they attacked an army patrol in the eastern region of Diffa,  Reuters quoted government and military sources as saying.

Diffa, some 1,400 km east of Niger’s capital, Niamey, borders Borno State, the operational base of the insurgents.

“An army patrol fell into a trap set by Boko Haram militants at Rouda, in the Chetimari commune of Diffa. The fighting lasted about an hour and the arrival of army reinforcements allowed us to take three prisoners, one of whom was wounded,” a government source told Reuters.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said the remaining militants fled back to Nigeria.

A military source said there were no casualties among the Niger soldiers but one of their vehicles was damaged by the heavily armed attackers.

He said that, at the time of the ambush, police had arrested around 10 suspected members of Boko Haram in the regional capital Diffa and the surrounding area.

The military source said he was not aware of any link between the arrests and the kidnapping of the Chibok girls and the other 11 seized from Warabe village, also in Borno State, on Tuesday.

Conspiracy charge

The Christian Association of Nigeria in the North on Wednesday alleged a conspiracy between Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima and officials of the Chibok school in the abduction of the schoolgirls.

A statement by the Secretary-General of CAN in the 19 northern states and Abuja, Prof. Daniel Babayi; and Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sunday Oibe, said Shettima must produce the abducted girls and stop playing politics with their lives.

The CAN statement read in parts, “We demand that the Federal Government and the international community should help us beg the Governor of Borno State to do everything within his powers to produce these children.

“We also reject a situation where they will turn our daughters to sex slaves of these criminals called Boko Haram members. We have it on good authority that some of these children are being raped 15 times a day. Some of these children are being compelled to be wives of these criminals. If you want to marry somebody’s daughter, you must seek the consent of her parents and not to ferry under-aged children and perpetrate a lot of havoc on them.

“Where were the daughters of the Principal, Vice Principal and Chief Security Officer when the abduction took place?

“We hope that this is not a political gimmick to carry out a political conspiracy against these daughters of Nigerians, future mothers of Nigeria and citizens who are wants to be leaders of tomorrow.

“ Chibok is a predominantly Christian area. What we are after is the safety and future of these children, whether they are Christians or Muslims or our enemies doesn’t matter. They are Nigerians, first and foremost.”