Politics
Nigerian government defends its actions as more girls are abducted
Nigeria defended its response to the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by the terror group Boko Haram, even as details emerged Tuesday about a second mass abduction, adding to a growing global outrage over the fate of the children. President Goodluck Jonathan has been under fire over accusations the government initially ignored and then later downplayed the abduction of the girls, who have become the focal point of a social media campaign demanding their safe return.
“The President and the government are not taking this as easy as people all over the world think,” Doyin Okupe, a spokesman for Jonathan told CNN. He also added, “We’ve done a lot — but we are not talking about it. We’re not Americans. We’re not showing people, you know, but it does not mean that we are not doing something.”
In detailing the government’s response, two special battalions have been devoted to the search for the missing girls, Okupe said. That includes 250 locations that have been searched by helicopters and airplanes. It was unclear whether these were additional troops being dispatched or were forces already in place. More troops, he said, are also on the way.
But the father of two of the schoolgirls taken by Boko Haram told CNN there has been no sign of the military in the days and weeks following the abduction. He accused the government of “playing” with the parents of the missing girls, treating them as “fools.” He said, “Had there been these military men who went into the bush to rescue our daughters, we would have seen them.” The father, declined to be identified for fear of reprisals by the government and the terror group but added, “…We have never seen any military man there.”
U.S. offer of military help
In a sign that Nigeria may be bowing to international pressure and outrage, the government announced the creation of an information center dedicated to answering questions and providing daily updates about rescue efforts, Okupe said. Nigeria’s President also accepted an offer of U.S. military support in the search for the girls.
“So what we’ve done is, we have offered, and it’s been accepted, help from our military and our law enforcement officials,” U.S. President Barack Obama told NBC News on Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to provide assistance to them.” That help includes the creation of a “coordination cell” to provide intelligence, investigations and hostage negotiation expertise, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The cell will include U.S. military personnel, she said.
The joint coordination cell will be established at the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Abuja, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the work is expected to begin immediately. But even as the help was offered to Jonathan, new details were emerging about the abduction of at least eight girls between the ages of 12 and 15, who were snatched Sunday night from the village of Warabe. The village is located in the rural northeast, near the border of Cameroon, an area considered a stronghold for Boko Haram, a group that U.S. officials say has received training from al Qaeda affiliates.