Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping explained

Partof:Boko Haram insurgency
Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping
Venue:Government Girls' Science and Technical College
Location:Dapchi, Bulabulin, Yunusari, Yobe State, Nigeria
Type:Kidnapping
Cause:Military withdrawal
Patrons:-->
Organizers:-->
Participants:Boko Haram
Outcome:
  • 110 schoolgirls kidnapped
  • Release of 104 schoolgirls plus 2 other children on March 21, 2018
Reported Missing:1
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On February 19, 2018, at 5:30 pm, 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group from the Government Girls' Science and Technical College (GGSTC). Dapchi is located in Bulabulin, Bursari Local Government area of Yobe State, in the northeast part of Nigeria.[1] [2] [3] The federal government of Nigeria deployed the Nigerian Air Force and other security agencies to search for the missing schoolgirls and to hopefully enable their return.[4] The governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Gaidam, blamed Nigerian Army soldiers for having removed a military checkpoint from the town. Dapchi lies approximately 275 km (170 miles) northwest of Chibok, where over 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014.[5]

Five schoolgirls died on the same day of their kidnapping; Boko Haram released everyone else in March 2018, save the lone Christian girl, Leah Sharibu, who refused to convert to Islam.[6]

Controversies

Military withdrawal shortly before kidnapping

Ibrahim Geidam, the governor of Yobe State, has complained about the withdrawal of army troops from Dapchi allegedly just hours before the abduction, without informing either the local police or the state government in advance. Initially, the army remained silent regarding this complaint.[7] Days later the army made seemingly contradictory claims attempting to explain its withdrawal. The army claimed that it had withdrawn its forces from the town due to the absence of evidence of any Boko Haram activity in the general vicinity and that at the time, it had formally handed over Dapchi's security to the police before its withdrawal.[8] In an army intelligence document obtained by the Sahara-Reporters group dated February 6, 2018, an army general expressed concern regarding a possible imminent Boko Haram attack in adjacent Damaturu, 60 miles away, thus calling into question the army's earlier assertion that it had good reason to believe that Boko Haram had left the general vicinity.[7] The Yobe state police commissioner strongly denied the army's claim that his department had been formally informed by the army of the army's withdrawal, and no proof of any such police notification was provided by the army.[8]

Uncertainty regarding number of abductees

Initially the Yobe governor stated that 94 schoolgirls were kidnapped from the school and that 48 had returned to their parents and that only 46 are still missing.[9] While, Bashir Manzo, the chairman of the Forum of Missing Dapchi Schoolgirls Parents said that 105 girls were missing.[10] The police commissioner of Yobe, Abdulmaliki Sunmonu said that 111 schoolgirls were missing.[11]

Comparison to Chibok kidnapping

As in the recent Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping, so too in the Dapchi kidnapping, the Nigerian government took days to respond at all, and then responded with several assurances that the kidnappers would be promptly apprehended and that all of the girls would soon be returned safely to their homes. In the Chibok event, four years later still approximately a third of the abductees remained in the hands of Boko Haram, with those girls who have been released, for the most part having been released via ransom payments, and with only one low-level kidnapper having been apprehended and standing trial to date (March 5, 2018).[12] [13] [14] Meanwhile, Boko Haram continues to enrich itself via the millions of dollars paid to it by the Nigerian government in the form of ransom payments.[15]

Reactions

The Nigerian Bar Association urged the Federal Government to suspend boarding schools in Northeast Nigeria.[16] Parents and villagers of Dapchi narrated how the kidnapping occurred and urged the Nigerian government to help them bring back their girls unharmed.[17]

Release

On March 21, 2018, the federal government of Nigeria announced that Boko Haram terrorists had returned 106 of the kidnapped children, including 104 girls who went to school, one girl who did not and a boy. Leah Sharibu wasn't released, and her parents told Agence France-Presse that the group would only release her if she converted to Islam.[18] The group dropped them off in the town in nine vehicles. Information minister Lai Mohammed stated that the release was unconditional. But days later, the United Nation stated in its report that the government had paid a huge ransom for the release.[19] [20] [21] [22]

The fighters after releasing the girls warned their parents not to put them in school again.[18] Some of the kidnapped girls stated that five of the schoolgirls had died on the same day they were kidnapped by the terrorist group.[23] [24]

Leah Sharibu

Leah Sharibu, a Christian schoolgirl aged fourteen at the time of her capture, is the only remaining Dapichi schoolgirl still held hostage.[25] After the others were released, some told The Guardian newspaper that Sharibu had previously escaped from her abductors, but was intercepted and returned to her abductors by a nomadic Fulani family.[26] Sharibu was reportedly not released along with the other children, because she refused to convert to Islam.[27]

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Sharibu subsequently was given to a Boko Haram fighter as a slave.[28] In August 2018 an audio was released of Sharibu pleading for her freedom.[29] In October 2018 her parents revealed that Boko Haram had threatened to kill her later that month, should the government not meet their demands.[30]

In February 2019 social media reports circulated about her death, but were dismissed by the government as politically motivated disinformation.[31]

After spending almost two years in captivity, in January 2020, many news outlets widely reported that Sharibu had given birth to a baby boy after being forcefully converted to Islam and married off to a Boko Haram commander.[32] [33] [34] Her father, Nathan Sharibu, dismissed the report saying that he would not want to hear such news.[35]

Many sources later reported that she gave birth to a second child late in 2020.[36] [37] [38] [39]

See also

References

  1. News: Sahara. Reporters. Abducted Dapchi Girls in 'Boko Haram town' in Yobe, Claims Rep. March 4, 2018. Sahara Reporters Inc. Sahara Reporters Inc. March 2, 2018.
  2. News: February 25, 2018 . 110 Nigerian schoolgirls still missing after attack: Minister . Al Jazeera . March 4, 2018.
  3. News: Searcey . Dionne . Akinwotu . Emmanuel . February 21, 2018 . Boko Haram Storms Girls' School in Nigeria, Renewing Fears . . live . limited . March 4, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220109202947/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/world/africa/nigeria-kidnapping-boko-haram-dapchi.html . 9 January 2022.
  4. News: Onuah . Felix . Akwagyiram . Alexis . February 25, 2018 . Nigeria says 110 girls unaccounted for after Boko Haram attack . Reuters . Maclean . William . March 4, 2018.
  5. News: February 26, 2018 . Nigeria's Dapchi school abduction: Father's plea to find daughter . BBC News . BBC . March 4, 2018.
  6. News: Maclean . Ruth . Abrak . Isaac . March 24, 2018 . Boko Haram kept one Dapchi girl who refused to deny her Christianity . . March 4, 2018.
  7. Web site: #DapchiGirls: Exclusive Document Shows Nigerian Military Knew Of Boko Haram's Plan To Carry Out Mass Abductions In Yobe, But Withdrew Troops . 2023-07-15 . Sahara Reporters.
  8. Web site: Dapchi: Let the Blame Game Stop . 2023-07-15 . THISDAYLIVE.
  9. News: Adekunle . Aliyu . Eboh . Michael . Agbakwuru . Johnbosco . Marama . Ndahi . Yakubu . Dirisu . February 22, 2018 . 111 Yobe schoolgirls not accounted for – Yobe police boss . Vanguard . March 4, 2018.
  10. News: Abdulkareem. Haruna. Dapchi parents release names of 105 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram (Full List). March 4, 2018. . February 24, 2018.
  11. News: Erunke . Joseph . February 28, 2018 . There's still conflicting report on number of abducted Dapchi girls, their identity – FG . Vanguard Media Limited . March 4, 2018.
  12. News: Eboh . Camillus . Akwagyiram . Alexis . 2018-02-14 . First person convicted for Nigeria's Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnap . en . Reuters . Pomeroy . Robin . 2023-07-15.
  13. John . Tara . 2018-02-26 . Boko Haram Has Kidnapped Dozens of Schoolgirls, Again. Here's What to Know . 2023-07-15 . Time . en.
  14. News: Parkinson . Joe . Hinshaw . Drew . 2017-12-22 . Freedom for the World's Most Famous Hostages Came at a Heavy Price . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2023-07-15 . 0099-9660.
  15. Web site: Iroanusi . QueenEsther . February 22, 2018 . Nigerian govt paid ransom for release of Chibok girls – Senators . 2023-07-15 . Premium Times.
  16. News: Nnochiri. Ikechukwu. Nwabughiogu. Levinus. Dapchi: FG sets up probe into Boko Haram school kidnapping. March 4, 2018. Vanguard Media Limited. February 28, 2018.
  17. News: Abdulkareem. Haruna. How Boko Haram attack, kidnap of Dapchi schoolgirls occurred – Residents, School staff. March 4, 2018. Premium Times. February 23, 2018.
  18. News: Dapchi girls: Freed Nigerian girls tell of kidnap ordeal. March 22, 2018. March 23, 2018.
  19. Web site: Bakare . Tonye . August 16, 2018 . Nigeria paid ' large ransom' to free Dapchi girls, UN says . January 29, 2020 . . Nigeria.
  20. News: UN: FG Paid Large Ransom for Release of Dapchi Girls. This Day.
  21. Web site: Omonobi . Kingsley . Akinrefon . Dapo . Erunke . Joseph . August 17, 2018 . FG paid huge ransom to free Dapchi girls - UN . January 29, 2020 . Vanguard News . en-US.
  22. Web site: Huge ransom paid for release of Dapchi girls –UN report. Punch Newspapers. August 17, 2018. en. January 29, 2020.
  23. Web site: Umoru . Henry . Agande . Ben . Erunke . Joseph . Marama . Ndahi . Ajayi . Omeiza . Agbakwuru . Johnbosco . Yakubu . Dirisu . Ojomoyela . Rotimi . August 22, 2018 . Dapchi girls: 5 of our students died on day of attack – Fasima, released girl . January 29, 2020 . Vanguard News . en-US.
  24. News: Idowu . Ronke Sanya . March 21, 2018 . How Five Girls Died In Boko Haram Custody – Freed Dapchi Schoolgirl . en . Channels Television . January 29, 2020.
  25. Web site: 'She refused to convert to Islam,' 85 days on, kidnapped schoolgirl Leah Sharibu remains in captivity. Oduah. Chika. May 15, 2018. CNN. March 16, 2019.
  26. News: Maclean . Ruth . Abrak . Isaac . March 30, 2018 . Schoolgirls seized by Boko Haram tell of Christian friend's escape bid . The Guardian . UK . March 31, 2018.
  27. Web site: Nigerian elections 2019: The spread of false information. February 14, 2019. BBC News. March 16, 2019.
  28. Web site: Where Is Leah This Christmas?. Ochab. Ewelina. December 23, 2018. Forbes. March 16, 2019.
  29. Web site: Lone Dapchi schoolgirl in Boko Haram captivity begs for her freedom. Adebayo. Bukola. August 28, 2018. CNN. March 16, 2019.
  30. Web site: 'Our daughter is facing a death sentence,' parents of Leah Sharibu cry out. Adebayo. Bukola. October 4, 2018. CNN. March 16, 2019.
  31. Web site: Olowolagba . Fikayo . 2019-02-10 . FG speaks on 'death' of Leah Sharibu, attacks PDP . 2023-07-15 . Daily Post Nigeria . en-US.
  32. Web site: Owolabi . Femi . January 26, 2020 . Report: Leah Sharibu gives birth in captivity for Boko Haram commander . January 29, 2020 . The Cable . en-US.
  33. Web site: Omirin . Olatunji . January 25, 2020 . Leah Sharibu gives birth to baby boy for Boko Haram commander . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200126132412/https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/leah-sharibu-gives-birth-to-baby-boy-for-boko-haram-commander.html . January 26, 2020 . January 29, 2020 . Daily Trust . en-GB.
  34. Web site: Leah Sharibu gives birth in Boko Haram captivity. January 26, 2020. P.M. News. en-US. January 29, 2020.
  35. Web site: Leah Sharibu's dad dismisses news of girl giving birth in Boko Haram custody. January 26, 2020. Vanguard News. en-US. January 29, 2020.
  36. Web site: Leah Sharibu Gives Birth to Her Second Child While in Captivity. March 24, 2021. Persecution. en-US. August 1, 2021.
  37. Web site: Leah Sharibu gives birth to second baby in Boko Haram captivity. March 23, 2021. The Guardian. Nigeria . August 1, 2021.
  38. Web site: Leah Sharibu second child? Boko Haram kidnapped Dapchi schoolgirl 'childbirth' latest news. March 24, 2021. BBC. en-pidgin. August 1, 2021.
  39. Web site: Leah Sharibu Gives Birth To Second Baby In B' Haram Captivity—Report. March 23, 2021. Sahara Reporters. en-US. August 1, 2021.

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