Mr. President, who rescued Amina Ali Nkeki?

The Presidency had been agog with the feat attained in the ‘rescue’ of one of the Chibok girls abducted by the Boko Haram sect some two years ago. The press has also not helped matters, as they have given the ‘rescue’ script so much hype that one’s imagination begins to replay over and over again what the scenario of the rescue operation must have looked like in the Sambisa forest. Did the Army engage the sect? Were there fallen heroes or causalities during the ‘rescue’ mission? What was the plot like in Sambisa forest, which happened to be the scene of the drama?

Amina Ali Nkeki is one of the 200 or was it 119 or 219 girls taken away from their hostel in Chibok. Anyway, whatever the figure was, the fact remains that some secondary school girls, who were about to write their school certificate examination, were abducted and the number was in the neighbourhood of 200. Interestingly, the immediate past administration said in the wake of the abduction that nothing of such happened.

The Webster learners’ dictionary defines ‘rescue’ as ‘to free or deliver from confinement, violence, danger or evil’.  So, in the ‘rescue’ drama played out in Sambisa forest, what tactics did the Army deploy? Which of the many artillery in their arsenal did they utilise in achieving the feat?

The Army is very proud of the ‘rescue’ and this was evident in the way the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, National Security Adviser, Babangana Monguno and the Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonishakin among other top government officials carried themselves with their shoulders high amidst tight security, while escorting Amina to Aso Rock Villa.

Regarding the tight security, maybe the abduction would not have taken place in the first place, if security were that tight at the girls’ school and around the country generally. Remember that some school children were also abducted at Babington Macaulay Junior Secondary School in Ikorodu.

Back to the Villa, the president had sent his presidential jet to ferry the girl and her mother to Abuja. They arrived the villa together with Shettima in a black SUV. So much pomp for a presidential welcome.

It must have been the euphoria arising from that pomp that got the Army formation so carried away that it announced a day after Amina’s visit to the Villa of a purported rescue of another Chibok girl. The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman had said he was working on the details, which would be released later, as the girl’s identity was not immediately known. So why jump the gun?

Usman later gave the name of the girl as Falmata Mbalala, but the vice principal of the school, where the Chibok girls were abducted said no such name exists on the school’s register. Was the Army so elated about the first ‘rescue’ that it did not bother asking if the girl was one of the Chibok schoolgirls before going viral with the news?

As it is, there are lots of twists to Amina’s rescue story. One version had it that a local hunter by name Apaagu and who is a member of the local vigilante group spotted her after a rescue operation by the Army, where many others were rescued. Another version said Apaagu was able to identify Amina during a routine patrol by the JTF vigilante group in company of the Boko Haram member, Mohammad Hayyatu, who parades himself as her husband. The JTF took them to the community head and afterwards to her mother where they reunited. They could not, however, leave Amina with her mother and so they told the latter that the authority had to be informed first, and that was where the Army came in.

Apaagu is angry. He complained during the week that the Army is taking all the glory and accolade for the rescue. The Chibok community in Abuja is also aggrieved. The community members don’t want anybody to refer to Hayyatu as Amina’s husband. So much anger in the air.

Was Hayyatu fed up with the Boko Haram group and so planned an escape with Amina? Where were they heading, when Apaagu and his men saw them? Why was Apaagu not brought to Abuja alongside others? After all, he is supposed to be the main hero in all of this. More and more questions begging for answers.

The Minister of Defence should have cleared the air on some of these issues at the villa that day, rather than use the occasion to brief Mr. President on how seven soldiers were lost in the last 22 days. Were they lost during Amina’s ‘rescue’ operation? He also mentioned that about 69 persons had been killed in the operation. Which of the operations?  About 69? That’s not specific enough.  Even a mother hen knows precisely the number of its chicks and is ever ready to take on any hawk that messes around them.

Ali also attributed the return of Amina to what he called Buhari’s political commitment and support, which he said had given a major boost to the success of the fight against terrorism. Is this propaganda or a political statement?

On his part, the President had said: “Rest assured that this administration will continue to do all it can to rescue the remaining Chibok girls, who are still in Boko Haram captivity. Amina’s rescue gives us new hope and offers a unique opportunity for vital information.”