The
march led by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili was unambiguous in asking the President
of the Senate, to do all in the power of the Federal Government to
ensure that the students were brought back safely.
Yesterday, Nigerians came out in Abuja, amidst
heavy downpour to march asking for the rescue or release of 234
abducted from GGSS Chibok. The march led by Dr. Oby Ezekwesili was
unambiguous in asking the President of the Senate, to do all in the
power of the Federal Government to ensure that the students were brought
back safely. The government continues to weigh it’s option in carrying
this out.
The Nigerian Army’s counter terrorism efforts
have once more been caught between a rock and hard place, not since the
attack on Baga have they been faced with this kind of indecision.
Generals and students of warfare will tell you that fighting an unseen
enemy is the hardest battle. But freeing abducted girls from the
clutches of the insurgents is one that must be done with deft and
circumspection. The lives of the girls are at stake here and all avenues
must be explored to bring them back. This is a moment for rational
thoughts over the irrational sense and brazen ideologies that give
insurgents the conviction that they are fighting a just war.
Once more, it is time we took a moment to go
through all the world’s hostage scenarios to bring a closure to
this
through a peaceful overture or with minimal collateral damage -for in
the words of William Shakespeare, all is well that ends well. And this
is one instance that we wish to end well. It is important that the
debate on the rescue of the Chibok girls should be done speaking the
language of the insurgents, the Siyar should be invoked, and the Shariah
position on the treatment of prisoners of war or the context of Ma
Malakum Aymanukum that should be the first port of call -negotiations.
Let us all pause, ponder for a moment and negotiate in order for the
girls to be released. Even the payment of ransoms should not be ruled
out.
Let us not forget that an outright military
operation puts the girls at risk, as they can be used as human shields,
this has happened before in Baga when insurgents threw mortars from
amongst non-combatants.
I digress here
-one of the most dramatic daring rescue missions the world has ever seen
was the rescue of Isreali passengers hijacked and kept at Entebbe
airport by the Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine, assisted
by a German extremist cell and the tacit support of Ugandan President,
Idi Amin; a week after, Israeli Commandos staged a daring raid losing
some men and rescuing 102 of the 106 hostages in July 1978.
On 17 December
1996, in Peru, members of a revolutionary group the Tupac Amaru movement
took diplomats, business men and military officials’ hostage at an
event in the Japanese ambassador to Peru’s house. They were kept hostage
for four months and later rescued in a raid by Peruvian Commados with
casualties on the Peruvian side.
I have
illustrated these scenarios above to show were deft and military tact
can come into play; however, the following illustration debunks the
popular held view that states do not negotiate with non-state actors
like Boko Haram insurgents.
No hostage crisis
has gripped the attention of contemporary historians like the Iranian
hostage crisis where Fifty-two hostages were held captive for 444 days
until they were released in January 20, 1981. Two armed rescue
operations failed with fatalities on the American side, the Iranian
hostage crisis is one of America’s most intense diplomatic negotiations
to free its citizens from captivity in the hands of non-state actors
supported by Iranian state. In 2003, even though Germany claims not to
have paid anything to secure the release of European tourists abducted
on the fringes of Algeria, reports insist that about 5 million Euros was
paid to the kidnappers by the government of Mali on Germany’s behalf,
to be repaid in the form of future development aid.
In 2003 the
Taliban also held South Korean missionaries for 42 days and executed two
of them, they rest were released after frantic diplomatic negotiations.
The Taliban later claimed they received 20 million USD before the
hostages were released. They also extracted a pledge from South Korea to
withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
The federal government of Nigeria must
explore all avenues that will lead to the release of the girls of
Chibok. The Nigerian nation has woken up from the slumber of tragedy
fatigue it was slipping into. Parents and the entire world are asking
bring back the girls safely. This is the test before, Nigeria.
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