A12TORONTO STAR SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2014

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>>WORLD

Tempers rising in search for abducted girls

Desperate parents lash out
at Nigerian government as
veil of sorrow grips region

in my life. I never thought Boko

Haram would come this close, Abuja resident Paul Patrick said on a
bridge overlooking the bus bombing
scene.
There is an increased military presence now in the capital, making Abujas traffic congestion even worse.
Reports are starting to emerge of harassment by military officials.
Matthew H. Kukah, the founder of
the Kukah Centre for Faith, Leadership and Public Policy in Abuja, says
Boko Haram is thriving on the fear
and publicity from these attacks.
(Boko Haram) wants to increase
its own visibility and publicity at the
expense of the government, destroying the confidence of the government in its legitimacy, Kukah told
the Star.
The strategy has worked before, as
the International Crisis Group (ICG)
notes in its April report on Nigeria,
which states that due to rampant
corruption most Nigerians are poorer than they were before the country
gained its independence in 1960.
Nonetheless, the plight of the girls
and the television images of the gruesome bombing during a busy morning commute has citizens united in
their horror.
Boko Haram, which began in 2003
as a largely non-violent social movement, has grown to become a large,
although poorly organized armed insurgency.
Its members have carried out horrific attacks in recent years, targeting
schools and churches. A common
tactic is to set fire to buildings and
shoot anyone who tries to escape
while those who stay inside are
burned alive.
Military attempts to crush the
movement, however, have also resulted in the deaths of thousands of
civilians and, with ongoing corruption, have helped boost Boko
Harams popularity.
The ICG report recommends the
government seek solutions outside
military alone, which risk pushing
yet more restless, jobless frustrated
youths into violence and extremism.

ATTA BARKINDO
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

MICHELLE SHEPHARD
NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER

ABUJA, NIGERIAAnger is rising over

the abduction of more than 200 female students from their high school
nearly two weeks ago who still remain missing.
Desperate parents, frustrated by
the Nigerian governments inability
to rescue their daughters, are organizing their own search parties, venturing into the lawless northeastern
forest in which the captors fled.
While the world focuses on tragedies elsewhere, such as Ukraine and
South Korea, or is distracted by the
trial of a celebrity South African
sprinter, the plight of these girls has
received little attention abroad.
But in Nigeria, Africas most populous country and a land accustomed to crime and violence, the
April 14 mass abduction at gunpoint
has left people in a state of fear and
anger.
A relative of one missing girl, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity,
lashed out at President Goodluck
Jonathan, asking how the countrys
security could be so lax that insurgents could kidnap the girls in the
northeastern town of Chibok and
then disappear with them without a
trace.
Danuma Mpur, chair of the local
parent-teacher association, told the
GuardianFriday that we pinned our
hopes on the government, but all the
hope is turning to frustration. The
town is under a veil of sorrow.
Mpurs two nieces are among the
missing students, who are both Muslim and Christian and mainly between the ages of 16 and 18.
The militant Islamic group Boko
Haram which means roughly
Western education is a sin in the
local Hausa language is suspected
in the abduction but has not issued a
statement.
Militants stormed the school in
Chibok as the girls were taking exams and ordered them aboard an

AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria was badly damaged after militants stormed the town.

awaiting convoy of trucks. Only a few

dozen escaped.
Boko Haram is known to abduct
women or girls, some as young as 12,
according to a Human Rights Watch
report. They are often raped, used as
slaves, or trained as rebels.
The group, which strives to impose
an Islamic government in northern
Nigeria, is opposed to education for
girls.
On the same day of the Chibok attack, Boko Haram bombed a bus station in the capital, Abuja, about 965
kilometres to the south, killing more
than 70 and injuring dozens.
An outcry broke out the next day
when Jonathan attended a political
rally in Kano and was photographed
dancing and smiling, despite the horror of the two attacks. The government later defended his actions, telling reporters that he was making a
statement to terrorists, letting them
know they could not hobble the
country.

This did not soothe angry feelings,

and peoples faith in the governments ability to rescue the girls from
a recognized Boko Haram stronghold is waning by the day.
Adetokunbo Mumuni, executive
director of the Socio-Economic
Rights and Accountability Project
(SERAP), said in an interview in
Abuja that he believes outside help is
needed. He called on the United Nations to urgently intervene and secure the safe release (of the girls).
Emergency law, which imposes
curfews and military checkpoints,
has been enacted in three states, including Borno, where Chibok is located. Jonathan has reportedly
warned state governors and senior
officials not to make inflammatory
statements that would impede rescue efforts.
Although there has been no word of
negotiations with the captors, analysts believe this may be the governments only option. They have typ-

ically been striking at the Boko

Haram with airstrikes, but that tactic
would endanger the hostages.
Nigerias population of about 170
million is roughly divided between a
Muslim north and a Christian south.
The country has incredible wealth:
Lagos is home to banking tycoons
and renowned designers who created lavish, protected enclaves for the
rich and an antidote to the stereotypical view of Nigeria as home to fake
princes and credit card scammers.
But many in Nigeria are also incredibly poor, with a life expectancy
of 53. The overcrowded, under-resourced and vulnerable schools in
the north are but one example.
Boko Harams fight and the governments reaction has claimed
thousand of lives in the past four
years. In recent months, the attacks
have increased and, as the Abuja assault shows, they are no longer limited to the north.
Its the worst thing I have ever seen

Atta Barkindo reported from Abuja and

Michelle Shephard from Toronto. Follow
Shephard on Twitter at @shephardm.

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