About 190 schoolgirls remain missing after being abducted last week by Boko Haram insurgents, their head teacher, Asabe Kwabura, told the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday. She said the parents of 230 girls had reported them missing but that 40 had managed to escape from the insurgents.
The 190 figure is far more than the 77 given earlier by government officials. The Associated Press had reported that parents of the pupils of Government Secondary School, Chibok told Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima when he visited on Monday, that 234 girls were abducted. When news first emerged of the kidnap last Tuesday, initial reports said more than 200 students were abducted, but state officials said the correct figure was about 130. The students, aged between 16 and 18 were about to sit their final year examinations when the insurgents invaded their school.
Here are some questions to ponder over
1. The Chibok kidnap occurred roughly 24hours after the Nyanya blast; Boko Haram just released a video few days ago claiming responsibility for the Nyanya blast, why didn’t they also claim responsibility for the Chibok girls kidnap?
2. A few days ago,the school principal OPENLY countered the Nigerian army’s assertion that over 80 girls had been freed leaving about 20 something girls still missing-Mind you for days the local and international community had reported that 100 girls were kidnapped and these figures were never challenged by the school or Borno state government. How come just 24 hours ago,the head teacher announced to the visiting Borno governor that over 230 girls were kidnapped and not 100 and that 190 girls were still missing? Where did these new figures come from? Why are they creating confusion for the entire nation and confusing the Nigerian army on ground?
3. Since most of the missing girls in question have already registered for WAEC,can we have their names published by the school authorities and verified by WAEC?
4. Over 40 girls have so far escaped, and they ALL miraculously escaped into the hands of the Chibok school authorities or their parents; none of these girls have ‘escaped’ into the hands of the JTF for debriefing and just how did the girls escape from their ‘merciless’ abductors?
5. We understand that the Chibok school in question had been closed by the same Borno state government but was suddenly reopened close to Easter celebrations. Why?
6. In the midst of all this Governor Nyarko of Adamawa state suddenly writes a memo to all Northern governors accusing the Presidency of a sinister plot to annihilate all Northern Muslims.
7. Was this kidnapping saga stage-managed just to embarrass the federal government in the heat of the Nyanya blast and vindicate the Borno’s governors claim that the Nigerian army has been over-powered by Boko Haram?
8. Was Governor Nyarko’s memo meant to be the strike that breaks the camels back and unleash ‘hell’ on President Goodluck Jonathan’s government from the entire Northern Nigeria? OR Perhaps it’s becoming clear that GEJ is going to seek a second term and will most likely win it-most Northern ‘PDP’ states are already at peace with this possibility in spite of sporadic senseless attacks on them by so-called Fulani herdsmen.
9. Are these Fulani herdsmen attacks meant to stir up deep resentment against the presidency from Northern states perceived to be ‘Jonathan friendly’? The perceived ‘Jonathan friendly’ Northern states include Kaduna, Plateau,Benue,Taraba,Nasarawa,Katsina, Zamfara (even though its an APC state)-these states have suffered more Fulani herdsmen attacks than any other Northern states in Nigeria.
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