Chibok girls can no longer be rescued – Poll

On Friday we asked if Nigerians believe that the more than 200 schoolgirls who were kidnappedfrom their school on April 14, 2014 can still be rescued.

Our question comes after President Muhammadu Buhari said on Wednesday, that his goal was to rescue the Chibok girls. He had made the submission in a speech he delivered to the parliament of the European Union in Strasbourg, France. Many Nigerians do not agree.

Fifty-five percent of our respondents hold that the girls can no longer be rescued.  Only 26.9 percent believe the girls can still be rescued, while 17.9 percent say they are not sure of what to think.

Many of the 55.2 percent hold that time has covered the tracks of the perpetrators of the crime, so the girls can no longer be found.

“If we put into consideration how long this war has been prosecuted with no particular leader of the group, the girls must be married off and separated from each other by now,” one respondent said.

“Deadly Boko Haram cannot keep them all in one place all this long,” said another.

“They must have been dispersed individually to a large geographical area, rescue is thereby impossible. The government can only negotiate. Even at that, they won’t be able to get all of them back,” yet another said.

The trend among those who believe the girls can no longer be rescued is that, too much time has been wasted and the trail is long cold.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo is of this school of thought too. He said on Friday night during a programme organised by the OAU Staff Club tagged Seventh Roundtable with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that the trail may have gone too cold for the girls to be rescued.

“The search for the abducted Chibok girls may not be fruitful,” Obasanjo said. “Nobody can bring back the girls because they are nowhere to be found.”

He blamed former President Goodluck Jonathan for ignoring the distress call on the mass kidnap of the girls saying, Jonathan did not respond to the call until after 72 hours.

Yet, there are respondents who hold that the kidnap story was a scam in the first place. Respondents with this belief hold that since the whole story was made up in the first place, one cannot find what was not lost.

“Because I think there weren’t any missing girls from the outset. This was all a high level conspiracy to make the government of ex-president Jonathan incompetent,” a respondent said

“Because the so-called missing ‘Chibok girls’ is a scam. It was conceived to rubbish Jonathan’s government and win votes, now the present government is at a loss on how to bring back girls that never existed in the first place,” another said.

One of those who believe that the girls can still be found said, “Neither the government nor the terrorists have said they are dead. Various sources including the military have in the past claimed to know where the girls are, a renowned journalist Ahmed Salkida recently confirmed they are still alive. As a strong advocate of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ movement I never lose hope on the rescue of the girls.”

Here are some of the comments from both sides

Yes, the girls can be rescued

1.       Neither the government nor the terrorists have said they are dead. Various sources including the military have in the past claimed to know where the girls are, a renowned journalist Ahmed Salkida recently confirmed they are still alive. As a strong advocate of the ‘bring back our girls’ movement I never lose hope on the rescue of the girls.

2.       They are prisoners of a form of war…although they are not likely to be rescued as virgins, but as mums and even grannies.

3.       Probàbly not all of them. There may be negotiation with government and some may be liberated like other captive in the past.

4.       They’ve not been reported case of death of anyone of them and some have been escaping.

5.       Because the Chibok girls are too many (over 200) to be killed. With more efforts of military action in collaboration with the other developed nations and above all, God’s factor, they can still be rescued. With God, all things are possible!

No, they can no longer be rescued

1.       Because if we put into consideration how long this war has been prosecuted with no particular leader of the group? The girls must be married off and separated from each other by now.

2.       Deadly Boko Haram cannot keep them all in one place all this while.

3.       Because I think there weren’t missing girls from the outset. This was all a high level conspiracy to make the government of ex-president Jonathan incompetent.

4.       Because the so called missing Chibok girls is a scam. It was conceived to rubbish Jonathan’s government and win votes for apc, now the present government is at a loss on how to bring back girls that never existed in the first place.

5.       They must have been dispersed individually to a large geographical area, rescue is thereby impossible. The government can only negotiate. Even at that, they won’t be able to get all of them back.

6.       This is because it has taken more than two years to recover the victims of Chibok girls. If this were actual kidnap it shouldn’t have taken so longer to release the innocent girls. I’m afraid that some of the girl would not home alive, and the rest will be forced to marry the terrorists who abducted them in Chibok, Borno State.

7.       It is more than one year now, and the security agent don’t know where the girls are, more so the former president informed the whole world that the girls that refused to be Muslims have since been killed, the ones that are Muslims have been married out, I only think we should allow some years when all this may gone done the girls may then become women the true stories will now emanate.

8.       It has lasted for too long and they can no longer be in one location. Some must have been taken across the borders of Nigeria to other countries while others must have had kids by now and taken into homes where they have very slim chance of escaping. So the issue is not about rescuing them alive but more about finding them together…

9.       With my knowledge of terrorism n war crimes, they’re dead n gone. If any is still alive, they will find their way home. If they’re alive, they would ve been rescued by now.

The BH leader Shekau is dead, most of his initial followers are dead. The reason why the military is finding it difficult to get them is because they’re nowhere to be found..I.e dead…So many girls ve been kidnapped and they’re still being kidnapped for suicide bombings.

10.   Which kind of rescue again after close to or more than a year in the den of terrorists? If they are to be rescued, it should be before three months of their abduction. Even, how are we sure the present state of the girls?

What have we heard about them for the past few months? Are they still alive or being married off? Are they still in Nigeria, in particular their (Boko Haram) capital in Sambisa forest where the Nigeria forces claimed to have taken the full control of or being sold to another country as they threatened after the abduction?

We should not forget that, this same terrorists groups abducted more girls, ladies and marry women after the abduction of Chibok girls from the nearby villages. Where are those women also?

Although some of the freed victims said that they were among women abducted by the terrorists.   I think what we need now is that; boko haram should be degraded completely.

And the security forces should be well motivated by giving good welfarism to boost their morale. To avoid future abduction of another secondary school girls. ABOUT CHIBOK GILRS, ONLY GOD KNOWS IF THEY WILL RE-UNITE WITH THEIR PARENTS.