Today, heroine Christian Schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, the sole remaining hostage of the 2018 Dapchi school mass abductions, marked her 4th month in Boko Haram captivity. Leah was just 14 at the time of her abduction in February 2018 But was not released alongside her Muslim classmates a month later. She has been held now for 120 days despite Federal Government’s assurances of her release.
The release of the abducted schoolgirls is the solitary achievement of this administration after 3 years but sadly it remains an uncompleted project just like the Chibok girls Saga. Although the Buhari administration achieved a negotiated release of over 100 girls, another 100 Chibok girls remain unaccounted for and none have been released for over a year.
It is troubling that an administration which rode to power on the firestorm over the Chibok abductions and is a principal beneficiary of that unfortunate saga has not deemed it fit to complete the total liberation of the girls. More worrisome is the fact that the government managed to, in its sole notable achievement thus far, secure the release of some of the girls. Having found the appropriate resolution mechanism it makes no sense other than state failure for the government to be unable to secure their total release or credibly explain why not.
Similarly the Dapchi mass abduction saga resulted in the first speedy mass abduction resolution midwifed by the Department of State Security. It is disconcerting that the DSS would negotiate the release of all but one of the remaining Dapchi schoolgirls more so the sole Christian captive. Again there is no rationale explanation why a DSS that has successfully secured the release of the Muslim girls has failed, refused or neglected to bring back Leah 3 months after her schoolmates.