Fears of another Chibok in Nigeria after school attack

Chibok, in neighbouring Borno state in April 2014 that brought global attention to the conflict for the first time.

Fifty-seven girls managed to escape in the immediate aftermath while 107 have been found, escaped or released since May 2016; 112 are still being held.

Some locals maintained Boko Haram deliberately targeted the school.

But with all those who fled not yet returned and the institution now closed, it is still not clear exactly what happened.

Some security analysts and those closely involved in the conflict said the attack may have been motivated by knowledge of payments to secure the release of the Chibok girls.

Last May, at least $2.5m is said to have been paid for the release of a batch of 82 students in an exchange with jihadist fighters in Nigerian government custody.

Amaechi Nwokolo, a security analyst at the Roman Institute for International Studies in Abuja, said ransoms had become “a new way of financing” Boko Haram activities. “They need money for arms, ammunitions, vehicles, to keep their army of fighters moving across the borders. They’re spending a lot of money on arms and logistics,” he said.

Payment of a kidnap ransom is often seen as the only way of securing a person’s release but civilian militia said the government risked being dragged into “a dirty game of money”.

Boko Haram has not specifically targeted a girls school since Chibok.

But one militia leader said should they ever emulate the feat, “the government will be under intense pressure to secure their release, which means giving them money”.

“The reality is whether girls from Dapchi school were taken or not, the importance of the attack is that this could be a new strategy for the group to raise money. “So we have to be careful.” “You can see from the attacks in the villages in the Dapchi area last night. No one was killed. It was all about looting,” he said.

“I believe the attack on the Dapchi girls school was not meant to abduct anyone. They were just there looking for food and other supplies, which they got.

“If the school was their target, they would have gone straight to the school unannounced, like they did in Chibok.”

Yan St-Pierre, a counter-terrorism specialist with the Modern Security Consulting group, agreed and said he saw kidnapping as part of its wider, long-established tactics. “They do so every week, regardless of ransoms. . . or the pressure put on them by military operations,” he said. — AFP