A Nigerian lawyer has advised the government to consider negotiating with the terrorist group, Boko Haram, in order to secure the release of the girls abducted from a school in Chibok.
Mr Ben Olu-Adegboruwa said his advice is hinged on the fact that the military strategy was failing and that the military had not giving a set time for the rescue of the girls.
The military, few days ago, said they had identified the location of the girls and would secure the release of the girls without a specific time given.
On Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily, on Wednesday, Mr Olu-Adegboruwa said it was difficult for him to believe the information from the military, citing situations where the military had given out information to the citizens but later retracted it.
“Information coming from government agencies has become difficult to swallow. It has been said that the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has been killed but we still see the man in videos and he is still doing things. The military has said that they rescued 100 out of the girls and later they said it was not true.
“If they say they know the spot where the innocent girls are, I am wary of whether to believe or whether it is just an attempt to buy some form of reputation by the military,” he said.
No Motivation
The legal practitioner stressed that it had gotten to a stage where Nigerians would have to accept the fact that the military lacked what was required to engage the insurgents.
“We cannot be in a position to be making a case that we cannot negotiate. We are on the ground in terms of our military capacity.
“If you follow the trend of event in respect of this abduction, it is difficult to accept which version of the various stories can be true.
“We are not concerned whether they have located where the girls are kept and where they are going to use a strategy to rescue them. The primary responsibility of the government is the security and welfare of his people.
“Looking at the stories we hear and the capacity of Boko Haram to unleash violence on its victims and we are talking about teenagers. We do not have information about what is happening to them,” Mr Olu-Adegboruwa said.
According to him, due to the porosity and the weakness of the Nigerian Army, the US government said it would not engage the Nigerian Army in the fight against the Boko Haram.
“The Nigerian Army, who are the primary people that will lead the warfare, do not have enough motivation to lead the warfare. The military once in a while engage in a mutiny because there is no motivation. There have been poor welfare and poor procurement plan for equipment over the years,” he said, emphasising the need for negotiation.
‘Get The Girls Out’
The lawyer was also of the opinion that the members of the terrorist group held in detention should be released if that would make them release the girls, stating that the military had been made weak and that trying to address issues of funding and lack of equipment while the girls are still in the custody of the sect members would prolong their release.
“My concern is that we cannot throw away the legitimacy of that demand by not negotiating. Since we do not have the capacity to engage them or sure of wiping them out within the shortest possible time, we should negotiate and ‘get the girls out’.
“The US, in the fight against Al-Qaeda, set goals and made sure they were achieved. But in Nigeria, the offences have continued to escalate for over four years and it shows weakness in the capacity of the military to tackle the insurgency.”
He also quoted the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as saying that funds had been released to the military as allocated, but the military had continued to say they lack funds.
Mr Olu-Adegboruwa, however, said that there seem to be something hidden that Nigerians are not aware of in terms of diversion of funds.
He called for proper scrutiny of the way funds allocated to the military were used.
