Fear for 317 Jangebe Schoolgirls: The Government has never freed all female students kidnapped in the past

“unlike all 344 boys from Kankara and all 27 boys from Kagara freed this morning, Nigeria’s government may not likely secure all the 317 schoolgirls presently in captivity.” 

The nation woke this morning to the cheery news of the release of all the schoolboys kidnapped at the Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State.

However, this news further compounds the fears yesterday morning, when the country received the shocking news of the kidnap of at least 317 female students, all boarding students of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara State, northwest Nigeria. 

Yesterday’s kidnap of female students comes exactly three years after the last one in February 2018 at Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, and after the first one at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, seven years ago. 

The kidnappers had turned to kidnapping schoolboys in the past three months, first at Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, and next at Government Science Secondary School, Kagara in Niger State.

The return towards kidnap of female school children in government schools is especially distressing because, in the four preceding incidents involving both sexes equally, The Nigerian government has always secured the release of all school boys but has never secured release of all school girls kidnapped by terrorists.

Dataphyte’s analysis showed that in the four preceding government school kidnap incidents, twice involving girls and twice involving boys, an equal number of students have been directly affected between both genders. In the preceding incidents, 387 girls and 387 boys were affected. However, a boy’s life was lost while at least five girls lost their lives, revealing the deeper vulnerabilities of the girl child to this degree of assaults.

In this review by Dataphyte, this worrisome pattern is noticed in all the kidnap incidents involving government school children. This informs the fears of many that unlike all 344 boys from Kankara and all 27 boys from Kagara freed this morning, Nigeria’s government may not likely secure all the 317 schoolgirls presently in captivity. 

Chibok, 2014

It all started 7 years ago. The Boko Haram Sect stormed Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State and attacked its young female boarders in their dormitory. After an operation that began late in the night on April 14th 2014 and lasted till the wee hours of the next morning, the insurgents forcefully took away a reported total of 276 children.

Fifty-seven (57) of the schoolgirls managed to jump from the trucks in which they were transported and escaped. Another 107 girls have been found or released as part of a deal between the Nigerian government and the armed group.

International Crisis Group (ICG) noted that the ordeal of the Chibok girls and similar Boko Haram attacks has taken its toll on over one million children, especially girls, in north-east Nigeria, with people in neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger sharing some degree of this misery. 

The fate of the remaining 112 abducted students remains unknown. 

Presidential Candidate Muhammadu Buhari had claimed, “We cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents”. It could not be ascertained whether he still holds this opinion now as an incumbent.

Dapchi, 2018

Four years after the maiden government school kidnap at Chibok, the Boko Haram terrorist group kidnapped 111 schoolgirls, aged 11–19 years, from the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in Bulabullin Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe state. The abduction was carried out late afternoon, about 5:30 pm on February 19, 2018. Dapchi lies approximately 275 km (170 miles) northwest of Chibok. 

After spending nearly 5 weeks in captivity, on 21 March 2018, the Nigerian government announced the return of 105 out of the 111 kidnapped Dapchi children. Out of the total, five had died while being whisked by the insurgents, while the only remaining student, Leah Sharibu, who declined to be converted to Islam, till the moment of filing this report, is still in captivity, three years after.

Two years ago, at the Army Day Celebration in Monguno, Borno State, President Buhari mentioned specifically, “I want to use this opportunity to reassure the world, Nigerians and the families of the remaining kidnapped Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu of the Dapchi School Girls that this administration will not relent in our effort to see that they are all released” 

These girls have not been found or freed till today.

Kankara, 2020

On December 11, 2020, 344 boys were kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State after a gun duel with the police. The abduction took place some hours after the President, Muhammadu Buhari, arrived in Daura, Katsina for a week-long private visit.

This abduction was said to be one of the largest recorded abductions in Nigeria, and the claim of responsibility by Boko Haram sent shockwaves through the north-west region of the country, amidst fears that the reach of the terror group was spreading from the country’s north-east where an 11-year jihadist onslaught rages on. 

On December 17, 2020, less than a week after the Boko Haram abductions, all the 344 schoolboys were released following a negotiation facilitated by the leadership of MACABAN/Miyetti Allah. 

This set a precedent as the quickest and easiest release of students abducted by the Boko Haram Sect. It could not be ascertained what shared sympathies exist between the Miyetti Allah organisation and the Boko Haram organisation.

Kagara, 2021

Two months after the release of the Kankara boys, no fewer than 42 people, including 27 students, were kidnapped when bandits attacked Government Science Secondary School, Kagara in Niger State on 17 February 2021. Premium Times reported that the abductors killed one of the students, Benjamin Doma, within the school premises.

The Kagara incident marked the spread of kidnaps in Government schools to the entire Northern region of the country. Beginning from the north-east (Chibok girls, Dapchi girls) to the north-west (Kankara boys), further to the north-central (Kagara students, staff and relatives) and back to the north-west (Jangebe girls). 

While family and friends of Benjamin Doma mourn for their murdered son and colleague, reports indicate the government’s bargains for the release of the other 42 persons has led to their release early this morning.

Jangebe, 2021

At the same time the Kagara students were being held, Bandits operating elsewhere kidnapped at least 317 students of Government Girls’ Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara, north-west Nigeria on 26th February.

The BBC reported on Friday morning that the mass abduction occurred overnight, saying the parents of some of the students have confirmed the development.

However, most of these kidnappings share the same format and timing. Starting from the Chibok girls of Borno down to the Jangebe girls, the defenceless innocent targets are always public boarding school students, and are usually captured late in the day.

President Buhari responded, “this administration will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target innocent school students in the expectations of huge ransom payments”. Yet, he added, “our primary objective is to get the hostages safe, alive and unharmed”

All the 317 schoolgirls are still in captivity. 

Foreign Governments warn citizens against visiting states in Nigeria

On September 20, 2020, the United States announced to its citizens thinking of travelling to Nigeria to reconsider their trip, due to COVID-19, crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime. 

The travel page of the country isolated Borno and Yobe States and Northern Adamawa State for terrorism. These are the states where Chibok and Dapchi girls were kidnapped. It also warned its citizens to avoid Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, and Yobe states, this time, due to kidnapping. 

Similarly, on March 13, 2020, the Canadian government advised its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Nigeria due to the unpredictable security situation throughout the country and the significant risk of terrorism, crime, inter-communal clashes, armed attacks and kidnappings. 

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) also advised United Kingdom citizens against travelling to Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, riverine areas of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and the Cross River States, and within 20km of the border with Niger and the Zamfara States. The last two kidnaps happened in the latter two states.

Precautionary advisories from foreign governments, as these, discourage foreign direct investments and could further impact Nigeria’s struggling Tourism sector. The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows the industry contributed a meagre N158 billion (that is, 0.22%) to the country’s GDP in 2020, indicating a 2.5% decline from the figure recorded in 2019.

In all, it makes exactly 1,091 students of government-owned boarding schools abducted in 5  different operations since 2014. This spanned the countries 3 northern regions – Northeast, west and Central. 

While 598 were freed, 5 girls and a boy died during the kidnapping operation. All the boys have been released but the rest 430 girls have not been freed. 

“We are angered and saddened by yet another brutal attack on schoolchildren in Nigeria” Peter Hawkins, the UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, said after the Jangebe incident. He noted, “parents should not need to worry for the safety of their children when they send them off to school in the morning”

This fear may discourage parents from sending their girl child to school, going by the disparity in the safety of schoolgirls and the schoolboys, further widening the gender gap against women.