Don't Blame Boko Haram for Chibok Girls Kidnap, Blame Yourself first!

By 
Mallam Ibrahim Gumel


“Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it." Baltasar Gracián, 1647.

First I will start by saying there is no Justification whatsoever for Kidnapping of the Over 270 Girls in Nigeria by Boko Haram! But I think we have being all responsible slightly or otherwise for the situation that led to the Kidnap. If anything, this incident has exposed our hypocrisy in choosing the battle to fight, the cause to represent and the plight to sympathize with...

I am saying this because since the beginning of Boko Haram insurgency over 5 years ago, the Nigerian military has been documented to have carried and is still carrying extensive human right abuses that include among others indiscriminate arrest/detention without trial of innocent people, Torture, Killings, blackmail and intimidation of insurgents and innocent citizens alike...

Some of the people arrested and detained for months/years are women and children...It is a common occurrence for the Nigerian army and/or police to raid an alleged insurgent/terrorist home, only to arrest his wife and children if he wasn't found at there....with the clear intention that holding his innocent family will push him to turn himself in! If he refuses to turn himself in, his family can be held for months or years in detention for a crime they didn't commit! Such tactics by the Nigerian security personnel are not isolated incidents; they are more or less official policy that is known and giving a tacit approval by those at the highest chain of command.

The tragedy is not just what the security personnel are doing, but rather the indifference and sometimes active encouragement given to such acts by ordinary citizens that for example feel good (without asking questions) whenever they hear that a terrorist has been arrested but his wife and two children are killed as a result. Such sentiments are manifested in different ways that includes the 'I don't care' attitude of the ordinary man on the street, to the NGOs that are suppose to be promoting human rights but turn a blind eye. Including the media that either refuses to report or sugarcoat such incidents. Down to the social media birds and activist that care more about reporting the President and his Wife Gaffes than bringing the Plight of the suppressed to the forefront, and lastly to the international community that looked the other way during the Rwandan Genocide, and now only showing interest in Nigeria's War on terror after sensing an opportunity to play a so called 'strategic partner' in-order to get a slice of Africa's biggest economy when the dust settles down!

We have condemned the over 270 Girls to the misery of what happened to them on April 14th long before that dark electricity-less Night in Chibok. The Nigerian Government that has the prime responsibility of protecting the lives of its Young jewels has shown time and time again that it is grossly incapable and Criminally Negligent to the adversities faced by the citizens of the North east.

The sad reality is, if it wasn't the Girls of Government Girls secondary school Chibok, it would have been those of Government girls school Baga, or the Girls of Government Teachers College Gwoza or even those Kids of Anchor Model School, in Askira/Uba. The signs have been there for everyone to see. But what did we do after seeing those signs? Nothing! 

That is why the blood of these girls is on our head, all of us! This makes the statement of an Irish statesman in the name of 'Edmund Burke' almost 100 years ago as apt then as it is now, he said 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'.

God always comes to the aid of Humanity in its most trying hour. But will God come to the rescue of Humans that have lost Humanity? Only time will tell!