Dapchi Girls and the Conspiracy Theories
Despite the best efforts of the federal government to convince Nigerians that the abduction of 110 students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, was not stage managed, many remain sceptical, writes Tobi Soniyi
Despite the best efforts of the federal government to convince Nigerians that the abduction of 110 students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, was not stage managed, many remain sceptical , writes Tobi Soniyi
One of the reasons that made it difficult for the federal government under former President Goodluck Jonathan to secure early release of the abducted Chibok Secondary School girls was because the government then did not believe that the girls were kidnapped. If you think that four years is enough for a conspiracy theory to unravel, you will be wrong. Four years after the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 Chibok Secondary School girls, many people are still of the opinion that the story was made up by those in opposition then to embarrass the government.
Then came February 19th, 2018. Nigerians woke up the news that 110 students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, had been kidnapped. Suddenly, the conspiracy theories re-emerged.
While the girls were in captivity, many waited with bated breath to see how the drama would unfold. When the girls were eventually released, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party made it move. It alleged that the abduction and release of the girls were staged. This position appeared to reinforce the position of the party in 2014 when the Chibok girls were kidnapped.
The party asked the federal government to explain to Nigerians the real circumstances that surrounded both the abduction and the alleged release of the girls. It argued that both the abduction and the release were done in a suspicious manner.
PDP did not spare both the All Progressives Congress and the Presidency as it accused them of stage-managing the abduction for political purposes.
It also called on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court to “declare this evil by the APC federal government a war crime against humanity and immediately commence an investigation into the matter.
The National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke at a briefing in his office shortly after the news of the release was made public, also demanded the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in the whole arrangement.
Secondus said, “The main issue is, how were they kidnapped? the government had set up an investigative committee, we challenged them to release the report on how they were kidnapped.”
After Secondus spoke, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, also addressed a press conference. He said: “We consider as wicked, callous and tormenting to use innocent schoolgirls as pawns in an ignoble script that was designed to hoodwink Nigerians and orchestrate a great rescue and security prowess of a conquering general, all to push a 2019 re-election bid, is an unpardonable gamble with human lives.
“While this failed Dapchi drama remains a poorly crafted tragi-comedy: a scam of no equal dimension, Nigerians are not ready to forgive the APC and the Presidency for the torments inflicted on the girls, their parents and the human community worldwide just to score a cheap political point.”
As it turned out, apart from the PDP, there are many others who doubted the kidnapping and the rescue story of the Dapchi girls.
In an equivocal statement, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said although it celebrated the return of the abducted Dapchi girls, it questioned the circumstances of their abduction and subsequent return.
SDP consequently called on the government to address grey areas surrounding the abduction of the students and their subsequent return. It said it doubted whether the girls were kidnapped in the first place.
Like the PDP, SDP believed that the story was too good to e true. However, unlike the PDP, it was willing to give the government some iota of doubt. That is why its position is equivocal.
The party in a statement signed by its National Secretary, Musa Gabam, said it was sad that some of the girls did not return.
The SDP said the kidnap in the first place is ”a display of incompetence from the government.”
It also questioned the credibility of ‘Mama Boko Haram’, a human rights activist, Aisha Wakil, who had earlier offered to get the girls back a few weeks ago.The party said the ”way the girls were returned” left room for scepticism.
SDP said: “The circumstance of the return of the girls, the fact that they were dropped at the centre of the town by their alleged kidnappers, who then drove away, raises the question of whether the girls were actually kidnapped in the first place.
“We however note with pain and dismay that some of the girls are still in captivity. Equally sad and unacceptable is the fact that five of the girls lost their lives. These were needless deaths, occasioned by an avoidable abduction saga. That such a large number of girls could be kidnapped in broad daylight in a sovereign state exposes the nation and its security agencies to ridicule.
“It was through the inter-agency altercations that Nigerians became aware that Dapchi town was an’ ‘unmanned territory’ at the time of the unfortunate incident. It is scandalous that a national government could display this level of incompetence and lack of grip.
“Could the APC government be playing a political game for cheap popularity, this time with the precious lives of peoples children? Why was “Mama Boko Haram” quick to publicly reassure the nation that the girls were in safe custody and under the protection of “her son” immediately. Why was she so sure of the condition of the girls and their location and why was she not arrested as an accomplice? These and many more questions are begging for answers,” the party said.
Even though it doubted if the girls were kidnapped in the first instance, it nevertheless urged the government to declare if it paid
Until the border issue is resolved, we will simply be waiting for another disaster to happen. It is not a matter of whether it will happen, it is when it will happen