By Patrick Cole
IT was about 1 pm. We were transfixed to our Television as we watched unbelievably as one plane plunged into one of the Twin Towers in the World Trade Centre in New York. People thought this might be a trailer for a new action thriller film. An hour or so later another plane struck the second Tower in the World Trade Centre.
People stood around, watching. The Television newscaster could hardly believe what they were reading and seeing. It was eerily true. The United States was under attack; commentators had never seen anything like it and began comparing this incident with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
After the initial shock and numbness the Mayor and Governor of New York swung into action. Fire and emergency Crews, ambulances, other emergency workers, all went into action, saving the injured, sending them off to hospitals which by now were on full alert: every available doctor was at the hospitals.
Still in this state of shock another plane landed in the Pentagon, the biggest building in the world housing the US Defence Department; another plane was flying towards the White House, its intention to hit the residence of the President of the United States.
The passengers in that plane managed to overcome the hijackers and crash landed the plane somewhere in Pennsylvania, about 35 minutes to the White House, killing all those aboard the plane.
For two years or so seven Saudi Arabians had studied to be pilots in the United States and on that fateful morning, all boarded various planes intending to cause mayhem by going for the jocular of the United States.
A nation is characterised by how it responds to national emergencies. On 7TH July, 2012 the London underground was blown up by a suicide bomber on the Central line in Edgware Road; another bomb was detonated on top of a double decker bus in Tavistok Square, near the centre of the University of London. The British swung into action, pulling people out of the underground, rushing others in Central London to hospitals and in a constant barrage of news kept its people informed, asked them to remain calm, stay at home while this mess was sorted out.
In Madrid the underground train was similarly attacked by six Moroccans in the name of Al Qaeda. The response of Spain was equally robust, and adequate. In all of this the thread running through the response in New York, London and Spain was to burnish a nationalistic sentiment of defiance- to say to the terrorists that you will not defeat us. We will get through this and be absolutely sure of this, we will get you, and we will get to the bottom of this. Our spirit is strong, stronger than yours. We are organised to deal with vermin like you. We will get you. There is no place to hide.
It would be tedious to repeat other examples of terrorist plots and the answer of those nations which is similar; – In India there was the attack on the Taj Mahal by Pakistani terrorists, in Nairobi by Somali terrorists at the shopping mall: India and Kenya were defiant; they dug deep into their national spirit to find the strength to fight these terrorists. They always believed that their spirit was invincible and superior to that of the bombers. They spared no resources to encourage resilience, willing to sacrifice even more to tell their enemies that they possess an inner strength, a belief in life which no acts of terror can diminish: that they are united in this single purpose of national survival and that they will survive and overcome, no matter what. Their Leaders were resolute in the belief that they must lead their countries not out of the fear which these faceless cowards were trying to impose upon them but out of strength.
Nearly two years ago another group of terrorists – Boko Haram – went to Chibok and took 246 Nigerian girls and seemed to vanish into thin air. Before that, Boko Haram had terrorised our nation – bombing the Eagle Square in Abuja while we were celebrating independence, we watched shamefully as our visiting Presidents and Head of State scurried like frightened rats into their planes and left our country. The terrorist bombed Police Headquarters and other buildings in Abuja, Niger, Kano. They spread mayhem all over the North East, seized territories where our governments could not go. But let me return to Chibok.
The whole world in solidarity with us put on “#Bring back our girls.” Even our President, security, Chiefs etc. without shame or appreciation of our utter humiliation put on #tags if not for Chibok for some other terrorist attack. When we tried to sympathise with France for the terrorist attack, our sympathy was thrown back to our face: we should solve the Chibok problem. Where was the political leadership, the nationalism, the spirit shown in the moment of a national calamity? Where is the defiance to tell Boko Haram, that our spirit is stronger than yours, you cannot beat us, you cannot hide, and we will get you. In London, New York, Paris, Brussels hundreds of thousands came out on that day to express their defiance at the terrorism.
Our response to that calamity puts all of us to shame, we scurried like frightened rodents and cockroaches into the nearest hole we could find, throwing one blame after another to confound our weakness and shamelessness. Indeed so pathetic has been our response that people have begun to believe that Chibok never existed; never took place, that it was a political conspiracy to win an election. Pathetic. We have had more reaction over the alleged abduction of a 14 year old girl who ran away with her lover than we have had in Chibok for our 246 girls.
ERUESE’S mother knew what was going on, even if she did not encourage it. She put her daughter in harm’s way and is complicit in the so called abduction. Her father is less than useless if he did not know what was going on in his house: he should have. With Eruese, shameless potentates, Governors, Deputy Inspector General of Police – an endless stream of publicity seeking inconsequential lightweights unashamedly want to take photographs with her; the courts have jumped into the act, with a N3 million bail for an okada rider – where were all these people during and since Chibok?
The girls of Chibok came from different States. What have their Governors done? What has the police done in Chibok? Some ask what can they do? They could have done a lot. And we could have sent a deluge of security people to Chibok, interviewing any and every body? Did the security people collect forensic evidence in Chibok? What are the answers they received from their investigation? Who is heading the Chibok inquiry, who is in his team?
Boko Haram has continued its mayhem in Sokoto, Kano, Abuja, Nasarrawa etc.
Our Governments are proceeding as usual – business as usual; our legislators, who earn US$ 1 million a year, have not mentioned Chibok in over 15 months. The Governors of Nigeria instead are buying bullet proof luxury cars at nearly N2 million a pop.
Are the girls of Chibok not our children? What do I expect? I expect simple investigation to, gather evidence, if we do not have the expertise, we hire them before the trail got cold: if we can hire forensic auditors to look into NNPC’s lost money, why can’t we hire forensic detectives whose job that really is – 246 people do not disappear into thin air without leaving a lot of evident.
Even if they are married, as some claim, does that justify criminality? They may have been sold off or as sex slaves of Boko Haram – the more excuses I hear the more my blood boils with shame at how callous and insincere our people really are.
At 9/11, fire teams came from all over the United States, detectives also came, sifting every particle to find evidence which they compiled and which has helped in being better prepared in case some other vermin terrorists were to attempt to terrorise the people. Every lead was followed; they knew where the Saudis went for training, when they came; they knew their parents, every safe house they stayed from the day they arrived: they plotted their every move that day etc.
They knew their DNA, their modus operandi etc. In London within hours they knew where the terrorists lived, when they entered the bus or subway etc. They picked up every scrap of information, sifted them until they had a composite of the perpetrators, their backers etc.
They have since 9/11, and 7/7 gone after those and killed them. They did this by investigation which was helped by the people who kept giving them information. They knew which school the terrorists went to, who their imams were etc. In the terror attacks that followed in Paris, Germany, Spain, Brussels, and also in New York, in Nairobi, Mumbai citizens came out in their hundreds of thousands, left notes, and flowers, kept vigil – all to show solidarity and to send a powerful message to the terrorists – we remain strong and we will beat you.
In Brussels, it was the taxi driver who took them to the airport who provided the vital link.
In Chibok we were told the terrorists came in three trucks – so somebody saw them! But we had no vehicle license plates, no description of the trucks, it would seem that Chibok was all a bubble of its own, unconnected by roads, families, no post offices, no petrol stations, how did they feed themselves and 246 girls – that number of girls passing through villages, staying somewhere – no tents, slept under trees, – no natural functions or did they clean up after themselves.
What did the teachers and their parents say? Do Boko Haram not study the terrain or make preparations – and no one saw anything? The most criminal of all the negligence was failure to bring in experts. Even in a war situation specialists still operated. In any case, was there war in Chibok?
Who has been there? No Okada riders; if it was deserted soon after, surely it is not still deserted. Our soldiers tell us they could not fight Boko Haram because they had no weapons yet the military bosses stole billions with no conscience for 246 girls. Are we to assume that Boko Haram is still operating in Chibok? Obviously not, if the schools have now been rebuilt, thus disturbing further the crime scene.
The only thing that is certain in Nigeria is that where there is money Nigerians will covert it. Chibok is part of the insurgency and the history of Nigeria’s response to that insurgency is despicable. Let us not go into the bigger issue of the insurgency. Let’s be specific about Chibok, a national disgrace.
It was, apparently not a singular incident: kidnapping of girls had been going on and is still going on. That seems to be the extent of our knowledge and involvement. Where are the pastors and mullahs of the area? They have no information. There are no neighbouring villages.
I remember meeting several megads, (night watchmen) who came from Chibok and who were housing their relatives in Lagos. I interviewed them. They told me about the general horrors of the North East and how they have now a network where they keep their people in Lagos and elsewhere. I am appalled at the failure of the Press – print, radio and television as to what happened in Chibok.
Not one journalist I know has been there – admittedly it is not safe and is in a war zone. All the news and information we get about North East and especially, Chibok is from foreign journalists who have been there. Where are the interviews with the parents of these girls, the follow up? Have they all left Chibok? Of course not!
Now a new racket has begun on the so called IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) where again there is money and some will disappears under this scheme? We have centres for them all over Nigeria – Yola, Abeokuta, Oyo and Osun etc. Back to Chibok – what does that event tell us about Nigerians? No one mobilized the country to express solidarity with those who suffered in Chibok.
We did not even go there or hold services and prayers for them daily. These are no places for us to go even outside Chibok to express our solidarity, to send a message that they have not been forgotten. All we hear are excuses, they may be married.
Last week the Sunday Times in London revealed that they found 91 of our girls and reported to the authorities who did nothing. There has been no mobilization; no way to express our feelings of the loss of our children. No solidarity, no intelligence – in fact the girls have been forgotten, no hope of closure. Instead we blame MTN and impose a ridiculous fine on them for not helping in Chibok and Boko Haram.
How is that fine justifiable when we have not freed one of our children captured? Every now and again we have our security People tell us they know where they are but cannot free them for fear that the girls would be killed. What preposterous rubbish! Our message on Chibok should be that we are unified with you, we suffer with you, we will free you; our enemies cannot and will not defeat us Where are our civil defence forces who love to appear at parades in their resplendent uniforms like castrated popinjays?
Their uniforms are better sown and fit better than our military uniform. Do they not have a role in Chibok? Are we really that callous? Is this a national trait? It must be. We can fit tens of thousands of applicants in a stadium, each paying N1000 for a form to apply to join the immigration service. That exercise killed many young people – no inquiry.
The minister did not resign etc. In the UK when Liverpool football fans died from a stampede similar to that of the immigration applicants – the minister, Police Chief etc. resigned- the inquiry took several years but closure came eventual after 11 years. Instead of our leaders covering their heads in shame – they are in armoured conveys of 12 to 15 cars, sirens blaring as they move at speed to nowhere meaningful.
In Brussels within days they found the bomb making factories, have named the suspects and are on a man hunt to pick up the last one. Can any one imagine this happening here? Boko Haram detonates roughly a bomb every week or fortnight. Where are these bombs made? Much can be told about the manufacture of a home made bomb because the maker leaves a footprint telling where he least his craft, sometimes how and who taught him.
Nigeria price itself on its African tradition which above all else is based on the family, both immediate and extended. When these girls of Chibok were kidnapped there was no feeling of outrage. The rest of the world felt the terrorists attack as an intolerably breach of human right and the right of children, and in world wide disgust for Boko Haram.
The Nigeria government would have sympathized more had we lost 246 cattle’s. The intelligence was zilch; no trackers were employed, no specialist, not even machineries when we knew of the location of 90 of theses girls. No questions about the girls abducted at Chibok have been satisfactorily answered and none seem to be forthcoming.
•Dr. Cole, OFR, a former ambassador, wrote from Lagos.
(Vanguard )
