Advocacy group Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked the Federal Government to explain to Nigerians why none of the terrorists who abducted the school children in Kaduna was arrested if he claims that ransom was paid before the release of the 137 pupils.
The Rights group, through its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated that it was highly unnecessary for government to dish out propaganda.
According to him, “if the children were actually rescued, can we know why not one of these abductors was killed, wounded or captured by the rescuers?
“We really cannot figure out why the government is inundating Nigerians with cock- and -bull story of whether ransom was paid or not. If the government claims they didn’t pay ransom to get the children freed and if these children were rescued as we were told, were they abandoned in one corner of the Zamfara Bush by the terrorists? Why was no single terrorists injured if this was a rescue operation? Why didn’t the soldiers or security agents arrest any of these terrorists?”
Onwubiko urged the Information and National Orientation Minister to be circumspect in his statement about the condition of health of the kidnapped but now released school children were returned so his public comments do not appear too patronising or sugar-coated to make the terrorists/kidnappers appear like father Christmas or nice guys.
He stated that the statement by the minister of Information and National Orientation that none of the kidnapped children was harmed is utterly condemnable because the criminal act of violently abducting children from their schools and ferrying them into the lawless forests in far-away Zamfara is one of the crudest and most gruesome emotional and psychological tortures that children of those earliest ages can face.
HURIWA recalled that the Federal government on Monday said Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, will soon be invited by security agencies over his relationship with kidnappers and bandits.
Ibrahim Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, stated this on Monday, while fielding questions from State House Journalists after meeting of the Federal Executive Council FEC, presides over by President Bola Tinubu.
HURIWA endorsed the decision of government to invite the controversial Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmad Gumi who from his public statements appear very sympathetic to terrorists.
Idris however, declared that the government will always engage anybody that has any kind of information that is required to solve the nation’s security problems.
The Minister who also spoke on the actual number of the children rescued, also revealed that none of the children suffered any harm as they were safely brought back to their parents.
“You know, what I can tell you is that there is no report that any of these kidnapped victims, either died, suffered any harm, or has been withheld. So all those that have been taking have been brought back in safety to their families.”
HURIWA said: “Can we find out from the minister what exactly he wants to achieve by saying that ‘none of the children suffered any harm as they were safely brought back.
“We honestly think that this statement is actually not from the honourable minister because it almost reminded us of someone under the spell of Stockholm syndrome. But we are sure that the honourable minister of information and national orientation is in no way under any spell but we wish he can very quickly correct this misconception he has circulated about this satanic kidnapping of so large a group of school children.
“The honourable minister should be told that the children indeed suffered massive psychological shock and awe, and emotional distress and truly they underwent series of emotional traumatic episodes and the best thing to do is for these children to be professionally counselled by psychologists so they can overcome those distressing experiences they have just undergone in the hands of terrorists who were armed and ready to kill.
“Nobody should ever have to go through the emotional tortures that these school children were subjected to for days. The truth is that the government failed in its primary constitutional duty to protect lives of citizens including those of such vulnerable members of our society. To imagine that heads didn’t roll in the security agencies for this abysmal failure of intelligence, is to conclude that this Government is in bed with impunity and lawlessness.”
