There's joy and anxiety in Nigeria - Shipoh

Namibian High Commissioner to Nigeria Peingeondjabi Shipoh said the release of 82 schoolgirls, after years in captivity of the Boko Haram terrorist group, has brought joy to many people in the West African nation.

The more than 80 girls were released last week Saturday in exchange for five Boko Haram commanders in a deal that was mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss authorities.

While the nation is celebrating the return of the girls it seems that there is also scepticism in the air about the swop of terrorists for the girls and what it will cost in the end.

Describing the general feeling of the public, Shipoh said it is one of celebration.

“It is especially the families that are rejoicing, but there are still more than 110 girls that are missing and that we are praying for,” he told Namibian Sun this week.

The news of the release was a joyful occasion for the anguished families whose daughters had been kidnapped by the militant group in 2014.

A total of 276 girls, aged between 16 and 18, were kidnapped from their boarding school in the country's north-eastern Chibok province.

As many as 50 girls escaped in 2014 in a raid and an additional 21 girls were released in October last year after negotiations with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The new release comes after several months of negotiations.

According to Shipoh, the more than 200 girls were spilt into two or three groups. This is however pure speculation as nobody knows precisely how many groups the girls were divided into.

What is known is that the 21 and 82 girls were kept separate from the others - for the purposes of negotiating. They were 'untouched' by the commanders of the Boko Haram.

The remaining missing girls however, are believed to have been married off to the commanders and converted from their religious beliefs.

Shipoh said that some of the girls are refusing to come back because they are now married and they do not want to leave their children behind.

It has been announced by a Nigerian presidential spokesperson that they were actually negotiating for the release of 83 girls, but that one did not want to return home and said that she is happy with her husband.

The girls who escaped Boko Haram shortly after the 2014 mass kidnapping said some of their classmates had died from illness.

Others did not want to come home because they have been radicalised by their captors, they said.

Human rights advocates also fear some of the girls have been used by Boko Haram to carry out suicide bombings as part of the group's insurgency.

Shipoh said that the nation is also worried about the terms and conditions regarding the swop of the commanders for the girls and some are very unhappy with this.

“There is some scepticism in the minds of the public why terrorists were swopped,” he added.

While some of these girls were only teenagers when they were abducted more than three years later, some are now as old as 20 years and have to be reintegrated into society.

The newly-released girls will be put on a similar rehabilitation programme set up for the 21 girls who were released in October last year.

The programme is tailored to meet each girl's specific needs of counselling, to help overcome the trauma endured after being held under captivity for years.

It includes, among others, access to quality education to bridge the learning gap created during the abduction, access to reproductive health care for their sexual well-being and rehabilitation support, and a skills-acquisition programme to ease their re-integration into their society.

An emergency team of psychosocial counsellors and health professionals has also been deployed to assist with the profiling of the girls, so their critical needs can be met.

The Namibian government this week welcomed the release of the 82 girls and called for the remaining captives still held by Boko Haram militants, to be released.

“The people in the northern part of Nigeria have suffered unimaginable distress caused by militants. The Chibok girls underwent trauma of insurgencies as they have been held under difficult conditions,” a statement issued said.

Regarded as one of the most organised attacks, the Boko Haram militants launched operations in 2009 and soon joined the Islamic State. The eight-year long insurgency has claimed over 20 000 people and driven 2.6 million out of their homes.

It has also destabilised politics and security in the region.



ELLANIE SMIT