Amnesty: Nigeria warned of Boko Haram raid at girls
school, failed to act
Those are the tough questions being asked after an
explosive report made public Friday accused Nigerian military commanders of
knowing the terror group was on its way to raid a boarding school in the town
of Chibok at least four hours before 276 girls were abducted.
The findings by human rights group Amnesty
International echo accounts of a number of the parents and villagers, who have
described to CNN an ineffective military response in the days and weeks after
the girls were abducted.
President Goodluck Jonathan's government vowed to
investigate the allegations even as it defended its military response and
questioned the motive behind the accounts.
"This is really outrageous, unbelievable,"
Minister of Information Labaran Maku told CNN.
The moment the Nigerian government heard of the
abduction, "we went in to action," Maku said. "...We shouldn't
turn this into a trial of the Nigerian government."
Even as he vowed an investigation into the claims,
Maku said it was "inconceivable" that soldiers on duty would not
respond to a potential attack on a school.
Hours after Nigeria's defense ministry dismissed the
report's findings as "unfortunate and untrue," the country's minister
of state for defense vowed to get to the bottom of the allegation.
"We must investigate and ensure we get to the
root of it," Musiliu Olatunde Obanikoro told CNN. "And any necessary
actions will be taken to ensure such a thing doesn't reoccur."
'No reinforcements'
Scrutiny of the government's response has escalated
amid international outrage over the mass abduction, with many asking why
Nigeria did not mount a larger response or ask for international help.
The Amnesty International report alleges that after
Nigerian commanders were informed of the pending attack, they were unable to
raise enough troops to respond.
The commanders left a contingent of between 15 and
17 soldiers and a handful of police officers in Chibok to fend off the
militants, the group reported.
"When it was clear these girls had been
abducted, no reinforcements were sent to the town," Makmid Kamara, a
researcher with Amnesty International, told CNN.
The report was based on the reports of more than a dozen
people, including two senior Nigerian military officials, who gave varying, but
consistent accounts, Kamara said.
But Nigeria's defense ministry disputed the
findings, saying the first word received was of an ongoing attack at Chibok.
The troops "did not receive four hours
forewarning about the attacks," according to a statement released by Maj.
Gen. Chris Olukolade, a ministry spokesman. "Rather, they received
information of an ongoing attack on Chibok from troops on patrol" who saw
the attack and took on the militants.
Borno state Sen. Ahmed Zannah said Friday that the
military sent reinforcements, but not until the militants were already in
Chibok.
'The soldiers were not there'
As many as 200 Boko Haram fighters carried out the
Chibok school raid, Amnesty reported, herding the girls out of bed under the
cover of darkness after a firefight with the handful of security forces in the
town.
The Nigerian government has claimed it responded,
with troops, helicopters and airplanes in the immediate aftermath of the mass
abduction.
But the father of two of the girls taken told CNN
there has been little sign of military help.
He said first learned of the attack in a telephone
call from a friend in Chibok, who told him the town was under attack by Boko
Haram.
"Pray for us," the friend told the father,
whose identity is being withheld out of a fear of possible reprisal by Boko
Haram and the government.
The next day, the father learned his daughters and
three nieces had been snatched.
He and his family sought out the help of the
military in the area. But, he says, "the soldiers were not there."
Days later, a meeting was called by the elders of
Chibok. "They said the army will be there and a civilian detail will be
there -- to accompany us into the bush" to search for the girls, he said.
But no military or government officials showed up,
he said.
"Nothing. Nothing. Up to 21 days, nothing has
been done," he said.
'Unfair' criticism
Nigerian officials have frequently been criticized
for failing to prevent Boko Haram's deadly attacks, particularly in the terror
group's stronghold of northeastern Nigeria.
Obanikoro, the minister of state for defense, called
the criticism "grossly unfair."
At least 2,000 people have died in violence in
northern Nigeria this year alone, Amnesty said. The most recent Boko Haram
attack killed at least 310 people in a town that had been used as a staging
ground for troops searching for the missing girls.
U.S. and British officials have arrived in Abuja to
supplement a U.S. team already on the ground there, according to officials.
They will help Nigeria's government look for the
missing girls, plan rescue missions and advise on ways to subdue Boko Haram.
"This isn't time for a blame game. We are happy
help is coming," Obanikoro said.
U.S. officials, at least, say they are unlikely to
commit troops to combat operations.
And it's unclear if Nigeria would allow U.S. or U.K.
troops on the ground. "We know the experiences the two nations are
bringing to the table, and we intend to ensure that that wealth of experience
is" used to bring about an end to the situation, Obanikoro said.
'Many soldiers are afraid'
According to Amnesty, civilian officials in a nearby
town and leaders of an armed vigilante group organized by the military informed
nearby military posts that armed militants had passed through on their way to
Chibok hours before the April 14 assault on the boarding school.
The human rights group said an official in the
village of Gagilam told its investigators that residents had spoken of
strangers who passed through on motorcycles, saying they were on their way to
Chibok. The group cited another official as saying the men had asked herders
for directions to the school.
The group also cited unnamed senior Nigerian
commanders as saying they were aware of the attack even before the calls from
the civilian leaders and vigilante groups. But they weren't able to muster
enough troops to respond, Amnesty cited the commanders as saying.
"There's a lot of frustration, exhaustion and
fatigue among officers and (troops) based in the hotspots," Amnesty quoted
one of the unnamed commanders as saying. "Many soldiers are afraid to go
to the battle fronts."
Where are the girls?
Book Haram’s
Leader, Abubakar Shekau, took credit for the mass kidnappings in a video
that surfaced this week. He said he planned to sell the girls into slavery.
A few escapees shared harrowing tales of escaping
into a nearby forest.
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, who serves as
Pentagon press secretary, said officials believe the girls "have been
broken up into smaller groups" but declined to detail how they came to the
conclusion. His sentiment has been echoed by others.
"The search must be in Niger, Cameroon and
Chad, to see if we can find information," said Gordon Brown, a former UK
prime minister and the U.N.'s special envoy for global education.
But Jonathan believes the girls are still in
Nigeria, somewhere in the Sambisa forest.
"If they move that number of girls into
Cameroon, people will see. So I believe they are still in Nigeria," he
said.
International outrage has escalated over the
nation's largely ineffective effort to subdue Boko Haram.
Amnesty is not the first to accuse Nigeria of
failing to take enough action to stop the Chibok raid or other attacks, or to
stage a forceful enough response in the aftermath.
Jonathan waited three weeks before speaking to the
nation on the matter. He said that rescue efforts were under way at the time
but that they could not be disclosed publicly.
"In a hostage situation, time is of the
essence," Kirby said. "We lost some time."
International response
The international effort to buttress that fight
ratcheted up Friday with the arrival of U.S. and British advisers.
Six U.S. military advisers arrived Friday, a U.S.
official told CNN. They will join a team of U.S. and British officials already
in Nigeria, helping find the girls, planning rescue efforts and devising
strategies to help subdue Boko Haram.
A British team drawn from the country's Department
for International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the
Ministry of Defence also arrived in Abuja on Friday, the British foreign office
said.
France also said it is sending a team but didn't
provide specifics on what expertise it will bring.
British satellites and advanced tracking
capabilities also will be used, and China has promised to provide any intelligence
gathered by its satellite network, Nigeria said.
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