You can deceive some people some of the time, but you cannot deceive all the people all of the time.
The recent abduction of 110 girls from the Government Girls and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, by suspected Boko Haram insurgents has exposed the insincerity and hypocrisy of the present federal government in its war against insurgency.
As is generally said, when an owl cried in the night and the child died, you cannot rule out the possibility that it is the owl that killed the child. In the same vein, when Governor Ibrahim Giedam of Yobe State alleged that it was shortly after the military was withdrawn from the Government Girls and Technical College, Dapchi that the girls were abducted, so also you cannot rule out the possibility that the military knew about the abduction of the girls.
Even though the military is trying to wash its hand off the allegation, many people will not easily forget that not long ago, both the BBC and the Daily Trust Newspaper had alleged that the Boko Haram leader, Ibrahim Shekau, who was within reach to be captured by the military, was allowed or even assisted to escape by the military following an unspecified order from above. Till today, nobody has denied the allegation.
Similarly, it has been observed that the present Nigerian Federal Government has not only been indirectly empowering Boko Haram members by paying them huge sums money as ransom ostensibly to secure the release of those under their captivity, but has at the same time been indiscriminately releasing many captured members of the group.
This has emboldened the Boko Haram members and made many people begin to doubt the sincerity of the government in the prosecution of the war against insurgency.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal of December 4, 2017, for instance, the Federal Government paid a huge sum of €2,000,000 (Two Million Euros), about N705,000,000 (Seven and Five Million Naira) to secure the release of 84 Chibok girls allegedly held by Boko Haram.
Also, on October 14, 2016, the government equally paid millions of dollars to Boko Haram to secure the release of 21 girls, while on February 11, 2018, an unspecified million dollars were equally paid for the release of 13 hostages.
Knowing that they will always get money from government, Boko Haram will never get to be defeated. They may only pipe down to enjoy themselves. That was when they told us that Boko Haram has been “technically defeated”.
Later, the group will rise up, strike again, take new hostages and expect to be settled. That is what has been happening and what may have played out in Dapchi.
If the Federal Government is serious with the war against Boko Haram, why is it that their leader, Abubakar Shekau, has not been captured, and why is it that the Sambisa Forest is still beyond reach?
There is also another possibility that the Federal Government may have reached a deal with the Boko Haram group for them to intensify their operations in order to justify the government’s controversial request of $1b (One Billion Dollars) for release from the excess crude account.
Otherwise, how else can we explain the indiscriminate release of notorious Boko Haram members by the Federal Government and the Dapchi operation where the military was withdrawn, and the abduction took place?
For instance, early this year, five notorious Boko Haram members were released from detention. This was followed by the release of 244 “repentant” Boko Haram members, and another set of 526 members of the group.
Nobody can swear if these people being released are not part of the so-called Fulani herdsmen currently wrecking havoc in different parts of the country.
