It was cheering news to both the Federal Government and Nigerians when yesterday, some world military powers announced their readiness to assist Nigeria rescue over 240 girls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok Borno State on April1 4, 2014.
Britain, China, Canada and France have offered to assist Nigeria in a desperate hunt for the missing girls. The United States Government had earlier offered her assistance for same purpose.
Since news of the abduction by members of the terrorist Boko Haram broke out over 3 weeks ago, it has been anger, condemnation and protests in major cities across the world. Different organisations, especially women groups have formed a global movement urging world bodies to join the search for the girls. A campaign on Twitter tagged ‘#BringBackOurGirls’ which pushed for an international coalition to rescue the girls is now a hot trend on the social media.
In Nigeria, protests have been staged in many states and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory by women, including mothers of the missing girls joined by women’s rights campaigners and other humanitarian organisations and civil society groups.
The demand is the safe rescue of the abducted girls in view of some chilling information by those that escaped from the Sambisa Forest where the girls are alleged to be held. Even more worrisome is the video message released by leader of the sect, Shekau, wherein he not only claimed responsibility for the abduction but threatened to sell the girls at giveaway prizes as if they are commodities.
In view of these, the international interest in the rescue efforts has raised hope for the parents and other concerned Nigerians over the missing girls. It would be recalled that the girls were abducted at Chibok Local Government in Borno State on April 14, 2014, the night of the Nyanya bomb blast in Abuja that killed over 70 persons and wounded about 200 took place.
Indeed, an international coalition for the rescue of the missing girls is most ideal and a welcome development at this crucial moment. This is in view of the fact that the security situation in the country appears to have overwhelmed the Nigerian military. Of particular interest is the pledge by the visiting Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, who promised President Goodluck Jonathan that his country would make any useful information acquired by its satellites and intelligence services available to Nigeria’s security agencies.
For France that has over 4,000 troops in Mali, it considers itself as a stakeholder in this situation because a security threat in Nigeria is a potential threat to its interest in Francophone countries in the Sahel region.
We commend the concerns of the countries that have accepted to render assistance to Nigeria at this crucial period in her history and urge the Federal Government and all relevant agencies and stakeholders to give them full cooperation.
Also, this international coalition should not just end as an ad hoc operation that would wind up after its mission might have been accomplished; it should be a sustainable cooperation that will remain as a special terrorist interventionist organ, ready to assist West African nations, especially countries in the Sahel region in tracking down and nipping terrorist activities in the bud.
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