The video tape, posted by Sahara Reporters, portrayed the murderous Boko Haram militants running helter-skelter like weather-beaten rabbits, their tails between their legs. For once, it was good comfort watching the gang that had driven the fear of God into all of us scampering all over the place, desperately looking for cover. If the accounts by the Nigerian Military are to be totally trusted, then one can safely infer that the chicken may have come home to roost for the insurgents.
Although these advances took rather too long to come and one couldn’t stop wondering where the Jonathan Administration had kept this magic wand all this while, the Nigerian Military surely deserves all the accolades it has been getting and would still get. Since they invaded the Sambisa forest, a few weeks ago, about 1,000 women and children have been liberated from the demolished camps of the insurgents.
The rescued women and girls are half of the estimated 2,000 reportedly abducted by Boko Haram. Surely, this is great news coming out of Nigeria. Coming on the heels of the peaceful general elections that we just had, one couldn’t have felt more excited as a Nigerian.
But as we jubilate over the returnees, their recollections have been heart-shattering. Tales of torture, repeated rape, forced marriage, sex slavery and the likes have been coming out of their camp.
Their shocking stories dampen the spirit. We even learnt that Boko Haram trained some of the captives as soldiers who they routinely used to raid neighbouring villages. What these tell us is: the relevant authorities have a lot of work to do to ensure the complete restoration of the rescued but highly traumatized people. The victims will need good medical care, sound counselling, proper debriefing to enable psychologists and other relevant professionals purge them of whatever evil indoctrination and training some of them may have got. Above all, they need our prayers for the terrible spiritual and psychological injuries they suffered to heal fast.
And after all said and done, the society must open its arms wide to receive them. There must be no negative profiling. However, like Obiageli Ezekwesili, the Chief Campaigner of ‘Bring our Girls’, told TIME magazine, any rescue is good news but no parent should sleep easy as long as the 219 Chibok Girls remain missing, unaccounted for. “That these girls and women who were also captives of those savages (for God knows how long) can now breathe the air of freedom is certainly victory,” Ezekwesili told TIME as she reacted to the rescue.
“We can seize on their rescue to add more pressure on our Government to spare no effort in finding our #ChibokGirls and all other abductees.” Simply put, we can never have full victory celebration until the 219 girls return safely home and are reunited with their parents, siblings and friends.
Ali is of the Mass Communication Department of the University of Maiduguri.
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