The United States and the United Nations have been urged to convince the Nigerian Government on the need to negotiate with the Boko Haram terrorist organisation on the release of the over 270 kidnapped girls of the Federal Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State
According to an executive of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP)), Anslem Dornu Bari John-Miller, it is true that no government should negotiate with any terrorist group, however he expressed concern that if the same principle is adopted in the case of the Chibok girls, their return may not be in the near future.
The MOSOP executive, who is also president of the Council of Ogoni Professionals (COP) in the US said “since the abducted girls are Christians, they risk being killed by the leader of Boko Haram because he knows that the girls remain Christians despite their so-called conversion.
“He may resort to killing the girls if force is employed in their rescue just to blackmail the governments of Nigeria, the United States and others.”
Miller who spoke with THISDAY exclusively was clarifying issues put before him shortly after he testified before the US Congress House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Africa, Global health, Global Human Rights and International insisted if the same principles of non-negotiation is adopted in the case of the Chibok girls, their return may not be in the near future.
He added: “Since the abducted girls are Christians, they risk being killed by the leader of Boko Haram because he knows that the girls remain Christians despite their so-called conversion. He may resort to killing the girls if force is employed in their rescue just to blackmail the governments of Nigeria, the United States and others. I implore this Committee to encourage the Nigerian Government to explore all means necessary in securing the release of the abducted Chibok girls.”
Miller noted that while the US and the international community’s attention is focused on how to secure the release of the abducted Chibok girls, it is important to note that the sophisticated and coordinated attacks that the Boko Haram has carried out after the abduction of the girls show that the organisation remains strong, bold and determined to inflict unimaginable harm and destruction on Nigeria so that the Nigerian-state will plunge into total anarchy and chaos thereby making it ungovernable.
“As such, the ongoing war against Boko Haram in Nigeria,” he insisted, “should not be treated with levity or treated as a local Nigerian crisis but should be elevated to the status of the war against Al Qaida.”
The US Congress, Miller advised, should work closely with the Obama administration to develop comprehensive counter-terrorism strategies that will help Nigeria to crush Boko Haram and put an end to the carnage and sufferings of the people of North-Eastern Nigeria and the neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger-Republic.
Solving the problem of Boko Haram in Nigeria cannot be achieved without addressing the issue of corruption, Miller explained adding that while there has been much focus on corruption at the national level of governance in Nigeria and the military, very little attention has been paid to the level of corruption at the state and local government levels in the North-east and other parts of the country.
These states and local governments, he said, receive monthly allocations from the Federal Government and are expected to use the funds to provide amenities and develop their states and local governments. “However, such funds end up in the private accounts of the state governors and the local government chairmen installed by the governors, resulting in paltry sums of money being spent on programs that have direct impact on the lives of the citizens of the states and local communities.”
To address the problem of corruption in Nigeria, he proposed that the US partner Nigeria to encourage transparency and accountability at all levels of governance. “The United States should also through its Justice Department investigate and confiscate all funds stolen by those in power at all levels in Nigeria and saved in bank accounts in the United States, Dubai, London, etc. and prosecute the culprits.”
Source: This Day