Chibok girls: Lessons from America

It took the American government more
than a month to admit the failure of US
Commandos to rescue Luke Somers, an
American freelance photographer who
was kidnapped in September 2013, at the
Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Justifying the
operation, Pentagon Press Secretary,
Rear Adm. John Kirby said: “The United
States government is committed to the
safety and well-being of its citizens,
particularly those suffering in captivity. We
use the full breadth of our military,
intelligence, law enforcement, and
diplomatic capabilities to bring people
home whenever we can.
The United States will not tolerate the
abduction of our people, and will work
tirelessly to secure the safety of our
citizens and to hold their captors
accountable.” There are two issues in
Kirby‘s statement which are of great
importance in appraising Nigeria’s
government apparent inability to rescue
the Chibok Girls.
First, just like the Nigerian government,
Washington recognises the duty it owes
its citizens and the need to ensure “the
safety and well-being of its citizens,
particularly those suffering in captivity’’.
This explains why in seeking to carry out
this responsibility, the American
government makes use of the full breadth
of her “military, intelligence, law
enforcement, and diplomatic capabilities’’.
The second important aspect of his
statement is that the American
government at any event in its attempt to
rescue its citizens under hostage or
captivity in terrorist enclave or in any
similar instances, holds, “their captors
accountable’’ for unforeseen or possible
outcome of its operation. On this note, the
American citizens are not expected to
blame the government but the ‘captors’
whenever things turn sour or go awry.
The inability of our government to rescue
the Chibok Girls kidnapped several
months back has been generating
unending controversies and bashing of
Jonathan’s government by sundry critics
who are obviously ill-at- ease with its
reluctance to adopt full military
operations in rescuing the girls. In the
light of America’s recent failure in its
rescue operations, especially on freeing
hostages of terrorist groups, Jonathan’s
recourse to caution, restraint and
unwillingness to apply full military option
in the matter seems justifiable.
Military operations are based on
intelligence reports upon which evidence
of certitude in locations have been
accurately established before action is
taken. Even in the case of some failed US
military operation, the hostages were
moved few hours before the Commandos
landed at their target.
Just recently, the ‘’Pentagon
acknowledged that it had conducted a
secret mission earlier this year in an
attempt to rescue hostages held in Syria
by the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) group, including journalists
James Foley and Steven Sot loff’’. What
the Pentagon did not reveal before now is
that the separate videos showing the
beheading of the journalists and three
other western hostages killed in the same
style was a reprisal reaction from Levant
(ISIL) group, against the failed US rescue
operation in which a number of the ISIL
members were killed. Of course, it is easy
to argue that virtually all the failed rescue
missions were carried out outside the US
territory.
But, such arguments do not diminish the
point that the US government had always
acted in full collaboration with the home
governments of the affected countries and
had employed the state of the art military
and intelligence logistics far better than
anything the Nigerian government can
muster. Yet, some of the rescue
operations ended in failures.
The recent Yemen experience has once
again raised issues about the most
effective ways of securing the freedom of
hostages held in terrorists’ enclave. The
American government has always
flaunted its rigid policy of not negotiating
with terrorists and hostage takers. Now a
number of US Congressmen are
questioning the policy while pushing for
the US government to reconsider the
administration’s approach to the release
of hostages. Ironically, there have been
instances when the US government
through covert operations actually paid
ransoms and negotiated with terrorists.
But in most cases it chooses to embark
on military rescue operations, some of
which yielded tragic results. The Yemen
experience is somewhat pathetic
considering the fact that the raid was
carried out just a few hours before Pierre
Korkie, a fellow captive from South Africa,
was to be released.
Arrangements had been concluded for
Pierre Korkie’s release before the US
military struck, leading to the death of
both captives. Ironically, the militant
group has referred to Washington as
being “foolish” for choosing ‘’armed force
over negotiation’’ arguing that the ‘’US
President, Barack Obama and his
government knew the fairness of our
demands, and they could have at least
avoided armed confrontation’’.
What lessons are there for us in Nigeria to
learn? We may as well begin with what
Christopher Voss, a former lead
international hostage negotiator for the
FBI said about rescue missions.
“As long as hostages are in the hands of
terrorists who have the opportunity to
murder them at any time, you can’t take
the promise that they can be released at
its face value’’. Negotiation, no doubt,
seems the better option, although the
subterfuge usually involved might be too
tasking and over-stretching in most
circumstances.
If America, with the most sophisticated
military arsenal at her disposal keeps
recording tragic failures in her military
rescue missions, we need not emphasize
the need for the Nigerian government to
continue to tread the path of caution and
explore veritable avenues for negotiating
with the Boko Haram insurgents as far as
the issue of releasing the Chibok girls is
concerned.
The US government can conveniently
accuse the terrorists after its failed rescue
missions and go scotfree, probably
because the citizens are charitable and
patriotic enough to realize the constraints
and limitations in carrying out such
operations. Can that that be said of fellow
Nigerians? I cannot imagine what will
happen in the event of any military rescue
operation that ended in bloodshed.
•Nonyelum writes from Lagos.