It is Independence Day. Today, Nigeria
marks her 54th anniversary as a sovereign nation. As expected, the
occasion calls for celebration. Nigerians are traditionally easy-going
and fun loving. Every October 1, there is an opportunity for the people
to gather together, irrespective of tribe and creed, to celebrate the
common cord that binds them together as one nation. On such an occasion,
there is much felicitation across the country and a chance to
appreciate the labours of the nation’s past heroes.
As it is, it is very unlikely that girls,
who were forcibly taken away from their school by the insurgents to an
unknown destination, will join in the celebration of Nigeria’s 54th
anniversary today.
Failure on the part of the Federal
Government to ensure the release of the girls, despite intense pressure
from Nigerians, civil rights groups, sectional and religious leaders, as
well as members of the international community, has given rise to the
fears that they might be killed, physically abused or sexually violated
by their captors.
A more frightening dimension to the
kidnap saga emerged a few days ago with the unexpected release of only
one of the missing girls.
Abused and psychologically traumatised
The girl, Susan Ishaya, found on
Wednesday morning near a police station in Mubi, Adamawa State and was
believed to have been thrown out of a moving vehicle by the Boko Haram
insurgents.
Apart from the fact that she was found to
be four months pregnant, there were some tell-tale evidence that the
girl had been physically abused, thereby confirming the fears of the
public that the missing girls may have been beaten and repeatedly raped
by their captors.
Also during questioning, it was
discovered that the girl was psychologically traumatised as predicted by
some medical experts about two months ago.
The experts had noted that before they
would be eventually released or rescued, more than 80 per cent of the
pupils would have suffered from one psychiatric illness or another.
One of them had said many of the girls would have been physically or sexually assaulted.
A Child Health Physician, Dr. Rotimi
Adesanya, also expressed the fear that many of the girls could suffer
from post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a medical condition that occurs
when the mental and psychological well being of an individual has been
upset by a catastrophic event.
Adesanya had noted that persons who
suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder usually experienced
recurrent nightmares of the incident ition which could lead to serious
health challenges such as insomnia, depression, anxiety and, in severe
cases, could lead to memory loss or suicide.
In Ishaya’s case, recent reports have pointed to a manifestation of signs of affliction with post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
An absurd situation
Meanwhile, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Prof. Itse Sagay, and Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje, in separate
telephone interviews with our correspondent on Tuesday reacted to the
continued captivity of the Chibok girls in the hands of the Boko Haram.
Taking a swipe at the Federal Government
for its lack of commitment to the freedom of the missing girls, Sagay
said, “Nigeria has failed the girls terribly. It is clear to me that the
government does not regard their capture and their present condition as
a priority. That is why it has been giving a low level type of
commitment, which has resulted in the captivity of the girls being
almost permanent.
“To add a very sad chapter to the whole
story, the only girl that was released by the captors recently was just
only having mental problems; she was already pregnant. You can imagine
the agony of the parents of the remaining girls. Their imagination is
going to run riot about what is happening to their children. Yet, the
political class in this country goes on organising rallies. All the big
talk about the election of the President in 2015 continues and life goes
on. This is the attitude of Nigerians.
“We don’t have the type of leadership
that we deserve. As long as the current breed of rulers, which we have
had since 1979, remains in power, the country will continue to go down
the drain. The continued abduction of the Chibok girls is a clear sign
of national decay.”
Sagay noted that, given the present
circumstances, there was no point celebrating national independence
today. He said, “With the prevailing lack of appreciation of the
importance of a human being in this country, there is absolutely nothing
to celebrate. A country that is progressively going down has nothing to
celebrate.”
‘Parents of Chibok girls should sue FG’
Also, Agbaje called on the parents of the
Chibok girls to institute a court action against the Federal Government
for not providing security and welfare, as demanded in Chapter 2 of the
Constitution.
He said, “Although it is still debatable
whether Chapter 2 is enforceable in law or not, I think it is
enforceable because there are laws made by the National Assembly in this
country to enhance the promotion of those articles in the chapter,
particularly the various laws of the land that have to do with the
protection and enforcement of the rights of Nigerians as further
entrenched in Chapter 3 of the Constitution. For instance, the right to
life, the right to free movement, the right to freedom of thought and
others are all part of it.
“How far has the Federal Government
guaranteed this? If it has done so, would it have been easy for some
hoodlums parading themselves under the guise of Boko Haram to just pick
these girls and lock them up for the past four months. Even I learnt
that the one that has just been released is mentally imbalanced and
pregnant. Does anyone expect the parents of this girl to just throw up
their arms in helplessness? Yet, the government is not bothered about
this. It is more interested in the 2015 politics.
“If we want to be sincere with ourselves
in this country, and we are talking about the rule of law, the need for
government to be accountable and responsible to the people, I think the
parents of the Chibok girls should go to court and challenge the
effrontery, recklessness, irresponsibility and failure on the part of
the government to create the necessary atmosphere for the safety and
security of lives in the country.
“The first fundamental right that is
enshrined in the Constitution is the right to life. You cannot tamper
with it unless as can be constitutionally justified. So it is an absurd
situation. Now national honours are being doled out even to those who do
not merit it. Those we never heard of, whose contributions we don’t
even know, are being honoured by the government, while some citizens of
this country are languishing in captivity of hoodlums in the North East.
Is that not enough to knock some sense into the skull of the Federal
Government? Why award national honours to some, when some underage
Nigerians have been in captivity for the past four months?”
Gbaje wondered why there should be
Independence anniversary celebrations in the country while the Chibok
girls are still languishing in captivity.
He said, “How can you be celebrating when
the nucleus of the population – young schoolchildren – are being held
in captivity. What is the essence then? Is that not even enough reason
to suspend the national awards and the Independence Day celebration and
take an retrospective look at the last six months in the country?
“I think the proper thing to do is for
the Nigerian Union of Teachers to instruct its members to boycott the
Independence celebrations until the Federal Government produces the
Chibok girls. The Nigerian Labour Congress and other trade unions should
join the NUT.”
While the entire nation and indeed, the
rest of the world continue to await the release of the girls, there is
increasing fear of what the future holds for them.
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