Thursday 12 June 2014

THE MYSTERY BEHIND THE CHIBOK ABDUCTION


...too many answered questions!

abducted school girls
Nigerians woke up on Thursday, April 14, 2014, to the news of the abduction of over 200 girls from Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) in Chibok town, Borno State by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents. The news came at a time when Nigerians were yet to recover from the Monday bomb blast that rocked Nyanya Motor Park, a few kilometres from the Federal Capital City, where scores of people lost their lives and property worth millions of naira vandalised.

It is over 50 days now and the helpless girls have not been found.


JANATHAN: Shekau, i am warning you ooo. surrender now and receive amnesty or else...

Secondary schools in Borno State had earlier evacuated their students from the schools after the insurgents killed 59 boys in Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, Yobe State on February 25.  However, some schools were selected for students in SSS3 to write their WASSCE. GGSS in Chibok was one of the schools where the examinations were conducted and students from different schools were merged to write their exams there.
On the fateful day, the Arts student were said to have completed their examination. They were reportedly told to go back home immediately after their exams. While some of them went home, others remained in school with the science students who were waiting to write their Physics paper.
254 girls were said to have been in their dormitory when the insurgents struck. 40 girls reportedly escaped while they were being transported leaving 234 girls behind. The escapees said the insurgents, who were dressed in the Army uniform, said they wanted to transport them to a safe place since they received reports that the school would soon be under attack. They said they jumped out of the vehicles when one of the other vehicles developed a fault. The other girls were reportedly transported to Sambisa forest, South of Borno State, the sect hideout.
A lot of mysteries have surrounded the kidnap of these girls and several questions have been raised by critics. One of the questions is the exact number of the abducted girls. Varying figures have been released among which are 219, 234, 254, 276 girls. This disparity, among others, have made some people (such as Asari Dokubo) to insist that are no missing girls.
One of the mysteries is how 40 girls would escape without being shot. One could argue that the insurgents left them because they already had a lot of girls. Another is how the girls were transported without being noticed, not to talk about being challenged by any of the villagers. If they had been transported by Hilux trucks as claimed, how many trucks would they have used for over 200 girls? Also a mystery is why the names and pictures of the abducted girls and those that escaped were not released by the school and WAEC. It was argued that the pictures and names of the escaped girls couldn’t be released in order to ensure their security.

SHEKAU: See you, do you think you can arrest me? i will sell the girls, there is market for them...

Another question is why the kingpin of the insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, releases videos to say exactly what people say happened to the girls? Shortly after the kidnap of the girls, the media speculated that the girls were being sold and married off to neighbouring countries of Chad and Niger with a bride price of N2000. Shekau released a video on the 5th of May to say he would marry them off and sell them saying there is a market for selling girls. Later, some people said he was forcefully converting the girls to Islaam. On the 12th day of May, he released another video of the girls dressed in Hijab and reciting the Qur’an. This video sparked controversies.
The first is how majority of the girls who were not Muslims and had never recited the Qur’an could recite fluently. The second is the exact location of the girls. Sambisa forest is said to be a “forest”, but in the video, the location of the girls didn’t portray the forest we were made to believe. One wonders if they are actually in a forest or not. The third is that the girls looked neat and well-fed. This generated a question of how the insurgents got the money to provide Hijab (Muslim attires) for all the girls. Definitely, the money would be coming from somewhere and the food items would be bought from a market.
Another bothering issue is the way the government is handling the issue. It took the President nineteen days to publicly speak on the abducted girls. He didn’t believe that the girls are abducted in the first instance. The Nigerian Armed Forces have not been able to find the exact location of the missing girls and their kidnappers. Truth be told, if they really want to locate them, they would have done that. The videos are being uploaded on the internet; the IP address can be traced to get the location. The Nigerian Forces looking for the girls can easily trace which bank large amounts of money are being withdrawn from and which markets food items were being purchased in large numbers. Also is how he is uploading the videos. Is he using a generator or he is PHCN powered? Who pays the PHCN bills or where do they buy large quantities of fuel to power their generator? 


PATIENCE JONATHAN: Na only you waka come?

The display of the First Lady on National television also prompted lots of reactions first of which was her reaction was 22 days late. Her exhibition prompted an article written by Tunde Asaju titled, Change the Joke Jesters. He wrote, “The First family is a circus, the security chiefs are the jesters the government is a comedy of errors and nobody is amused except the courtiers, contractors, the ten percenters and the rented crowd. The idiotic way of handling serious issue of embarrassment rubs off on the global recognition earned by our citizens abroad... What a shame that our ship of governance is sinking or at best adrift, our Captain is either too inebriated to handle the situation or at best has left the ship to hunt fingerlings. Change the joke jesters, nobody is laughing.”
One other developing issue is the foreign-aid. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and China offered to help Nigeria find the missing girls. While some Nigerians have hailed their efforts, others are against it. Personally, I believe if Nigerian government is serious about fighting the insurgents, they would have done so a long time ago. The reality of the situation with the United States and the so-called world super powers is that, whenever they go into a country for “interventions”, they leave it worse than they met it. Take a look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya and a host of others. Those countries are worse than when the U.S. went there. We also need to understand that they once predicted Nigeria would not remain as a country after 2015. This implies that when Nigeria was being created in 1914, it was not intended for it to last beyond a hundred years. It was an experiment. I wouldn’t be surprised if Boko Haram is their creation and being funded by them to destabilize Nigeria so that they can come in for assistance and split the country. After all, Taliban was a CIA creation to fight the former USSR.



- story by Safiyyah AbdurRasaq (Our correspondent, Abuja)









INSIDE NUSAYBAH/ABDULWASI’ ENCHANTING NUPTIAL


the couple
The adqun/walimatul Nikah of Nusaybah Dasola, the first child of seasoned Islamic scholar, Shaykh Dhikrullahi Shafi'i and AbdulWasi Ademola Orenaike, an Abu Dhabi-based Network Security Administrator, on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at Regal Hall, Solebo Estate, Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria, surpassed its billing.
The enchanting nuptial was graced by prominent islamic clerics and different Islamic organisations in Nigeria, particularly members of The Muslim Congress (TMC); Al-Mu'minaat; Muslim Students' Society of Nigeria. Among the personalities were Mudir, Markaz Salam, Shakh Ramadan Moshood Jubril; professor of Inter-Religious Dialogue, Prof. Murtador Bidmos; Shaykh Thaoban Adam; Chief Imam of Lekki, Shaykh Ridwanullahi Jamiu.
Others were Shaykh AbdulMajeed AbdulFatah, shaykh Abdul Fatah Kalejaiye, Mutiu Anthony (Easy and Quiet), Ustaz Qasim Bidmus, Ustaz Sulaiman Adedigba, Shaykh Is-haq Ayandiran, Shaykh AbdulGani Adenle, Shaykh Ibrahim Jeje, Shaykh Tajudeen Gbadamosi, Shaykh Qamardeen Bello, among others prominent guests.
The great occasion started with the opening prayer and recitation of the Qur'an, followed by the soul inspiring lecture by Ustaz Tajudeen Yusuf. The moment everybody was waiting for, the solemnization, was conducted by Ustaz Bilal Shittu, who declared the lovebirds man and wife, having fulfilled the rites of Nikah including the Mahr of One Thousand Riyal (Arabian currency).
It was indeed a great entrance for the new couple as they expressed their joy and hope of betting things. Claded in flowing Arabian outfit -Jelbaab with hijab and a pair of shoes, Nusdhik, as the bride is fondly called by friends, said, "I am short of words", when AL-FAHM asked her how she's feeling getting married, adding, "I have many reasons to be happy, not just because I am getting married, but because Allah has spared my life to witness this Day, Alhamdulillah - I am grateful to God."
The excited groom told AL-FAHM how the journey began. According to him, it started about six months ago. There wasn't any kind of physical meeting but there was conversation through phone calls, social medi; whatsApps and Viber, etc.
Nusaybah is a graduate of Islamic Studies from the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG). She hails from Iwo, Osun State, while the groom, who just flew-in into the country from Qatar is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from Lagos State University (LASU). He's proudly "Ijebu-ite", Ogun State born dawah worker.

AL-FAHM brings you the glamour of the nikah in pictures, as captured by Abdur-Rasheed Abubakar

guest lecturer, ustaz tajudeen yusuf (left)
 
bride with mum (right) and step mum (left)





groom's mother (left) and sister (right)
with smile, the groom asked bride's father, Would you give me your daughter to marry?
with joy, the bride's father replied the groom, "I give you my daughter wholeheartedly"


  
and now, the elated bride said she accepted AbdulWasi' wholeheartedly, with Islam.

receiving her Mahr of 1000 riyal

prof murtado Bidmos, thanks for coming
Sheikh Ramadan admonished the groom, "be a good husband"


PRAYER TIME: bride grand-ma (left) and siblings



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