abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from the Government Girls’
Secondary School, GGSS, Chibok, Borno State, have be
en sited at the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, by the Special Forces of
the United States Marines.
The girls who were abducted on April 14, were part of the 250 students
boarded at the school for the West African School Certificate, WASC/
Senior Secondary School Certificate, SSSC, examinations, triggering
world-wide condemnations.
This was even as more US military officials arrived Nigeria yesterday to
join local officials in the search for nearly 300 school girls taken
captives by the Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram, the US
Secretary of State John Kerry, and the defence department, Pentagon,
said.
The UK team had earlier arrived in Abuja to support Nigerian
government in its response to the abduction of over 200 school girls.
The arrival of the foreign troops is coming on the heels of the appeal
yesterday by the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar for Nigerians to
unite and fight the insurgents to achieve success.
According to Kerry, “Our inter-agency team is hitting the ground in
Nigeria now and they are going to be working with President Goodluck
Jonathan’s government to do everything that we possibly can to return
these girls.”
The CNN also quoted the U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, John Kirby, who
serves as Pentagon press secretary, as saying that the small team of
seven would join advisers supporting local efforts to find the girls
abducted over three weeks ago.
Kerry said the US team, working with the Nigerian government, would
do everything possible to free the girls and everything possible to stop
the atrocities of Boko Haram.
“We are also going to do everything possible to counter the menace of
Boko Haram. The entire world should not only be condemning this
outrage but should be doing everything possible to help Nigeria in the
days ahead,” he added.
But there are no plans to send American combat troops into Nigeria,
Mr. Kirby said.
The abduction of the school girls on April 14 in a remote community in
Borno State, one of the most shocking terrorist acts by Boko Haram
yet, has drawn widespread anger around the world with calls for a
swift action.
President Goodluck Jonathan said Thursday that the kidnapping will
be “the beginning of end” of Boko Haram.
US President Obama has said he hopes the abduction by Boko Haram
will galvanize the international community to act against the brutal
group that has directed much of its cruelty on civilians and the
innocent.
This week, more than 100 people were killed in a busy market by
militants suspected to be from the group. The attack occurred in
Gamboru Ngala, Borno State, near the Nigerian border with Cameroun.
Besides the United States, Britain, France and China have also offered
to help rescue the stolen girls.Obama said the team sent to Nigeria
comprised personnel from military, law enforcement and other
agencies.
France said it will station 3,000 troops in Nigeria’s neighbouring
countries to help fight militants in the Sahel region.
British satellites and advanced tracking capabilities also will be used,
and China has promised to provide any intelligence gathered by its
satellite network.
Meanwhile in a statement yesterday, the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office spokesperson said, “a team of UK experts who will advise and
support the Nigerian authorities in its response to the abduction of
over 200 school girls touched down in Abuja, Nigeria this morning”.
The team is drawn from across government, including DfID, FCO and
the MoD, and will work with the Nigerian authorities leading on the
abductions and terrorism in Nigeria. The team will be considering not
just the recent incidents but also longer-term counter-terrorism
solutions to prevent such attacks in the future and defeat Boko Haram.
The team will be working closely with their US counterparts and others
to coordinate efforts.
Us Marines find abducted girls, arrest Boko Haram leader
However, military sources said that apart from abducting the girls, the
insurgents also carted away food items and vehicles as well as killing
undisclosed number of people in Chibok on the fateful night.
The sources told Saturday Vanguard in Abuja that members of the
United States Marines who are already in Maiduguri following the
promise by President Barak Obama to assist Nigeria in rescuing the
abducted girls, located the girls inside the forest, using some Satellite
equipment which combed the forest, located an assembly of the young
girls and sent the images back to the Marines on ground in Maiduguri.
Aside locating the whereabouts of the girls in the dense forest, it was
also, further gathered that one of the leaders of terrorist group who
participated in the abduction of the girls was arrested by a combined
team of the US Marines and Nigerian forces.
Sources said that the Boko Haram leader was arrested, through an
advanced interceptor equipment which was used to track the terrorist
while exchanging information with his colleagues in Sambisa Forest
about the movements of American and Nigerian soldiers in Maiduguri.
His phone was subsequently traced to a location in Maiduguri where
he was arrested and handed over to the Nigerian military.
The location of the girls in the forest is contrary to widespread reports
that the girls had been distributed and ferried to the Nigerian border
towns in Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic.
Senator Ahmed Zanna, representing Borno Central District in whose
Maiduguri home, an alleged Boko Haram top commander was once
arrested told the Senate last week that he gave the Military an up-to-
date information on how the girls could be rescued, but lamented that
his information was largely ignored.
He spoke against the backdrop of the claim by the Boko Haram leader,
Sheik Abubakar Shekau, last week that the girls were booties of war,
who would be sold into slavery.
However, Atiku said in his blog, “While I have had and continue to have
major policy differences with the government in Abuja and its
leadership, as a nation we must remain united.
”We have come to a turning point in our war against terrorism in
Nigeria. It is a critical moment for us; the war will not be won without
us winning this battle. In short, if one is not part of the solution, they
become part of the problem.
”And at a moment like this, we can no longer afford anything but a
united commitment to stamping out a great evil that threatens the very
existence of the only place we call home.
”On social media, I have been amazed by the outpouring of solidarity
from within and outside Nigeria. While on the one hand it is sad to see
Nigeria in the news for its inability to protect its most vulnerable
citizens, it is also clear that in the age of social media no concerns or
problems are local.
”It is in light of this that I welcome the offer of military support from
the United States, United Kingdom, France and others, and the
acceptance by the Nigerian government. While I believe that we waited
too long to get to this point of admitting our need for external help, I
will also insist that it’s better late than never.
”We must make it clear that under no circumstances should any
person, group of persons, or organization ever be permitted to prey on
the children of Nigeria, or any other country. We must make it easy for
everyone who has information about this crime against humanity to
contact the authorities at once.
”We must make it easy for the innocent population of the affected
areas to see the Nigerian military and authorities as friends, not
enemies. We must make it easy for our soldiers to be loyal and
committed to this great and difficult task ahead of them.
”We must make it easy for the world to see Nigeria as a country that
cares for all its citizens, regardless of their age, gender, religion, ethnic
group or economic class. We must remember the people most affected,
trapped on the frontlines of the battle.
They need support, relief and rehabilitation. ”We must remember they
will need help when they are returned home to their families and their
loved ones. And we must make it difficult for anyone to play politics
with this crisis.
’’Nothing, absolutely nothing, is worth the bloodshed and the
destruction we have come to associate with this campaign of terror.
Not party affiliations, not the 2015 elections. We are in a race against
time. For every day we delay our response, or allow ourselves to be
caught up in needless bickering, we hand victory over to the forces of
darkness and despair, like Boko Haram.”
Source: Vanguard
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