Government should apply caution on Dapchi probe

Sheikh Giro Argungu, a prominent Islamic cleric and Dr. Siddique Abubkar of the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria,  have said that proper investigation should be conducted before the government takes any decisive action on the Dapchi abduction.

The duo were reacting to a statement by the  Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Muslims umbrella body, that the group was not satisfied with steps taken by both the federal and Yobe State government over the  abduction  at Dapchi.
The group through its Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar, had said that all those responsible for providing security in and around the Government Girls’ Science Technical Secondary School, Dapchi, ought to have been in jail “for negligence and possible connivance with insurgents”.

The body maintained that the abduction could have been avoided had security agents been proactive, saying the incident further exposed the lack of synergy among security agencies in Nigeria.

The JNI also viewed abductions of school girls as a grand conspiracy to frustrate girl-child education in Northern Nigeria.

Argungu and Abubakar, in separate interviews, agreed that negligence on the part of security agencies could be a factor in the abduction of the Dapchi girls, but lamented that both the police and military are overstretched because of the theatres of wars across Nigeria.

Abubakar added; “we should know that government cannot protect every school in the North-east. When you take the Nigeria police, for example, they are not more than 400,000 and almost half of them are attached to big personalities. However, if you have about 1,000 girls in a school in that volatile area, you should know that they would certainly be a target; therefore appropriate measures could have been put in place. Therefore, there is security lapse in that regard. 

“Similarly, government should not take action on the basis of emotions. Proper investigation should be carried out to avoid punishing innocent persons. If you compare the actions taken by this government with what was done during the Chibok girls’ abduction, I think this government has taken serious measures to address the problem. Accepting that the girls were really abducted was the stepping stone. Therefore, we should be very careful with what we say on this issue. Again, state governments should also make arrangements to assist the federal security agencies, considering the many theatres of wars we have in Nigeria.” 

On his part, Argungun said; “I think it is not proper to say that there was connivance between security agencies and Boko Haram, but I think there was negligence on the part of the security agents. People should know that the Boko Haram members are living among us and they monitor the movement of troops. I think the Boko Haram seized the opportunity of withdrawal of troops around the general area of the Dapchi girls’ school.

“Again, the main goal of Boko Haram is to discourage Muslims from acquiring Western education, for us to remain ignorant in areas of technology, medicine and other important sectors. When this happens, Muslims would have no say in the Nigerian and global affairs. Government should ensure that they bring this Boko Haram menace to an end and ensure that all abducted girls and other persons are returned to their families.”

But the Chief Imam of Triumph Juma’at Mosque, Ustaz Abubakar, described the statement of the JNI as timely, saying, “what JNI did is a step in the right direction and government should take it seriously.

“The JNI has spoken the minds of Muslims and I am sure that if the federal government takes the advice, we will achieve the desired objectives.

“I am positive that the leadership of the organisation thought deeply about the matter before it took that position. So, I am in support of JNI”. 

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