LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's Boko Haram
extremists are offering to free more than 200 young
women and girls kidnapped from a boarding school in
the town of Chibok in exchange for the release of
militant leaders held by the government, a human
rights activist has told The Associated Press.
The activist said Boko Haram's current offer is limited
to the girls from the school in northeastern Nigeria
whose mass abduction in April 2014 ignited worldwide
outrage and a campaign to "Bring Back Our Girls" that
stretched to the White House.
The new initiative reopens an offer made last year to
the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan
to release the 219 students in exchange for 16 Boko
Haram detainees, the activist said. The man, who was
involved in negotiations with Boko Haram last year and
is close to current negotiators, spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to
reporters on this sensitive issue.
"Another window of opportunity opened" in the last few
days, according to Fred Eno, who has been negotiating
with Boko Haram for more than a year.
He said he could not discuss details but explained that
the recent slew of Boko Haram bloodletting — some
350 people killed in the past nine days — is consistent
with past ratcheting up of violence as the militants
seek a stronger negotiating position.
Presidential adviser Femi Adesina said on Saturday
that Nigeria's government "will not be averse" to talks
with Boko Haram. "Most wars, however furious or
vicious, often end around the negotiation table," he
said.
Eno said the 5-week-old administration of President
Muhammadu Buhari offers "a clean slate" to bring the
militants back to negotiations that had become
poisoned by the different security agencies and their
advice to Jonathan.
Two months of talks last year led government
representatives and Eno to travel in September to a
northeastern town where the prisoner exchange was to
take place — only to be stymied by the Department for
State Service, the activist said.
At the last minute, the intelligence agency said it was
holding only four of the militants sought by Boko
Haram, he said.
It is not known how many Boko Haram suspects are
detained by Nigeria's intelligence agency, whose chief
Buhari fired last week.
The activist said the agency continues to hold
suspects illegally because it does not have enough
evidence for a conviction, and any court would free
them. Nigerian law requires charges be brought after
48 hours.
Thousands of suspects have died in custody, and they
might include some on a list from Boko Haram that Eno
said he first received exactly one year ago.
Amnesty International alleges that 8,000 detainees
have died in military custody — some have been shot,
some have died from untreated injuries due to torture,
and some have died from starvation and other harsh
treatment.
In May, about 300 women, girls and children being held
captive by Boko Haram were rescued by Nigeria's
military, but none were from Chibok. It is believed the
militants view the Chibok girls as a last-resort
bargaining chip.
In that infamous abduction, 274 mostly Christian girls
preparing to write science exams were seized from the
school by Islamic militants in the early hours of April
15, 2014. Dozens escaped on their own in the first few
days, but 219 remain missing.
Boko Haram has not shown them since a May 2014
video in which its leader, Abubakar Shekau, warned:
"You won't see the girls again unless you release our
brothers you have captured."
In the video, nearly 100 of the girls, who have been
identified by their parents, were shown wearing Islamic
hijab and reciting the Quran. One of them said they had
converted to Islam.
International indignation at Nigeria's failure to rescue
the girls was joined by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.
In a radio address in May 2014, she said she and
President Barack Obama are "outraged and
heartbroken" over the abduction.
Supporters of the girls, who continue to rally each day
under the "Bring Back Our Girls" banner, on
Wednesday marched to the presidential villa in Abuja
to renew demands that the government bring the
students home.
There have been unconfirmed reports that some of the
girls have been taken to neighboring countries, and that
some have been radicalized and trained as fighters. At
least three were reported to have died — one from
dysentery, one from malaria and one from a snake bite.
Last year, Shekau said the girls were an "old story,"
and that he had married them off to his fighters.
Lawan Zanna, whose daughter is among the captives,
said this week that 14 Chibok parents have died since
the mass kidnapping, many from stress-related
illnesses blamed on the ordeal.
Some of the Chibok girls who managed to escape have
been rejected by their community and now live with
family friends, tired of hearing taunts like "Boko Haram
wives."
The assumption that all girls and women held by the
group have been raped is a difficult stigma to overcome
in Nigeria's highly religious and conservative society.
Shekau had threatened in 2013 to kidnap women and
girls if Nigeria's military did not release detained Boko
Haram wives and children. The government freed them
in May of that year, as a goodwill gesture ahead of
peace talks, which failed.
Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds more — girls,
boys, women and young men. Some have become sex
slaves, while others are used as fighters, according to
former captives.
Nigerian opinion on negotiating with the extremists is
mixed. Some say the group's crimes are too heinous to
be forgiven: The 6-year-old Islamic uprising has killed
more than 13,000 people and forced about 1.5 million
from their homes.
"A lot of people take a hard-line stance that you must
never negotiate with a terrorist," said Sen. Chris
Anyanwu. She called it a "very complex" issue,
balancing the lives of more than 200 girls against the
dangers of freeing extremists.
The militants last year seized a large swath of
northeast Nigeria and declared an Islamic caliphate.
Nigeria and its neighbors deployed a multinational
army that forced them out of towns and villages this
year, but the bloodshed has risen at a fierce rate since
Buhari's May 29 inauguration amid pledges to crush
the insurgency.
Eno said that as the president pursues a necessary
military solution, he hopes Buhari also understands the
need for negotiation.
He said the latest overture comes through respected
Islamic scholars and Muslim elders who were ignored
by Jonathan's people but now have taken dangerous
and courageous steps to engage the insurgents.
extremists are offering to free more than 200 young
women and girls kidnapped from a boarding school in
the town of Chibok in exchange for the release of
militant leaders held by the government, a human
rights activist has told The Associated Press.
The activist said Boko Haram's current offer is limited
to the girls from the school in northeastern Nigeria
whose mass abduction in April 2014 ignited worldwide
outrage and a campaign to "Bring Back Our Girls" that
stretched to the White House.
The new initiative reopens an offer made last year to
the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan
to release the 219 students in exchange for 16 Boko
Haram detainees, the activist said. The man, who was
involved in negotiations with Boko Haram last year and
is close to current negotiators, spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to
reporters on this sensitive issue.
"Another window of opportunity opened" in the last few
days, according to Fred Eno, who has been negotiating
with Boko Haram for more than a year.
He said he could not discuss details but explained that
the recent slew of Boko Haram bloodletting — some
350 people killed in the past nine days — is consistent
with past ratcheting up of violence as the militants
seek a stronger negotiating position.
Presidential adviser Femi Adesina said on Saturday
that Nigeria's government "will not be averse" to talks
with Boko Haram. "Most wars, however furious or
vicious, often end around the negotiation table," he
said.
Eno said the 5-week-old administration of President
Muhammadu Buhari offers "a clean slate" to bring the
militants back to negotiations that had become
poisoned by the different security agencies and their
advice to Jonathan.
Two months of talks last year led government
representatives and Eno to travel in September to a
northeastern town where the prisoner exchange was to
take place — only to be stymied by the Department for
State Service, the activist said.
At the last minute, the intelligence agency said it was
holding only four of the militants sought by Boko
Haram, he said.
It is not known how many Boko Haram suspects are
detained by Nigeria's intelligence agency, whose chief
Buhari fired last week.
The activist said the agency continues to hold
suspects illegally because it does not have enough
evidence for a conviction, and any court would free
them. Nigerian law requires charges be brought after
48 hours.
Thousands of suspects have died in custody, and they
might include some on a list from Boko Haram that Eno
said he first received exactly one year ago.
Amnesty International alleges that 8,000 detainees
have died in military custody — some have been shot,
some have died from untreated injuries due to torture,
and some have died from starvation and other harsh
treatment.
In May, about 300 women, girls and children being held
captive by Boko Haram were rescued by Nigeria's
military, but none were from Chibok. It is believed the
militants view the Chibok girls as a last-resort
bargaining chip.
In that infamous abduction, 274 mostly Christian girls
preparing to write science exams were seized from the
school by Islamic militants in the early hours of April
15, 2014. Dozens escaped on their own in the first few
days, but 219 remain missing.
Boko Haram has not shown them since a May 2014
video in which its leader, Abubakar Shekau, warned:
"You won't see the girls again unless you release our
brothers you have captured."
In the video, nearly 100 of the girls, who have been
identified by their parents, were shown wearing Islamic
hijab and reciting the Quran. One of them said they had
converted to Islam.
International indignation at Nigeria's failure to rescue
the girls was joined by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.
In a radio address in May 2014, she said she and
President Barack Obama are "outraged and
heartbroken" over the abduction.
Supporters of the girls, who continue to rally each day
under the "Bring Back Our Girls" banner, on
Wednesday marched to the presidential villa in Abuja
to renew demands that the government bring the
students home.
There have been unconfirmed reports that some of the
girls have been taken to neighboring countries, and that
some have been radicalized and trained as fighters. At
least three were reported to have died — one from
dysentery, one from malaria and one from a snake bite.
Last year, Shekau said the girls were an "old story,"
and that he had married them off to his fighters.
Lawan Zanna, whose daughter is among the captives,
said this week that 14 Chibok parents have died since
the mass kidnapping, many from stress-related
illnesses blamed on the ordeal.
Some of the Chibok girls who managed to escape have
been rejected by their community and now live with
family friends, tired of hearing taunts like "Boko Haram
wives."
The assumption that all girls and women held by the
group have been raped is a difficult stigma to overcome
in Nigeria's highly religious and conservative society.
Shekau had threatened in 2013 to kidnap women and
girls if Nigeria's military did not release detained Boko
Haram wives and children. The government freed them
in May of that year, as a goodwill gesture ahead of
peace talks, which failed.
Boko Haram has kidnapped hundreds more — girls,
boys, women and young men. Some have become sex
slaves, while others are used as fighters, according to
former captives.
Nigerian opinion on negotiating with the extremists is
mixed. Some say the group's crimes are too heinous to
be forgiven: The 6-year-old Islamic uprising has killed
more than 13,000 people and forced about 1.5 million
from their homes.
"A lot of people take a hard-line stance that you must
never negotiate with a terrorist," said Sen. Chris
Anyanwu. She called it a "very complex" issue,
balancing the lives of more than 200 girls against the
dangers of freeing extremists.
The militants last year seized a large swath of
northeast Nigeria and declared an Islamic caliphate.
Nigeria and its neighbors deployed a multinational
army that forced them out of towns and villages this
year, but the bloodshed has risen at a fierce rate since
Buhari's May 29 inauguration amid pledges to crush
the insurgency.
Eno said that as the president pursues a necessary
military solution, he hopes Buhari also understands the
need for negotiation.
He said the latest overture comes through respected
Islamic scholars and Muslim elders who were ignored
by Jonathan's people but now have taken dangerous
and courageous steps to engage the insurgents.
No comments:
Post a Comment