Nigeria’s federal authorities on Monday surrendered to the government of Borno State its information responsibilities concerning the abducted Chibok girls.
In a curious statement, Defence Headquarters spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade, who famously made the false announcement two weeks ago that the girls had been rescued, and then rescinded it, said the Borno government “in whose facility the incident occurred” would now provide the public with regular briefing on the matter.
“Accordingly, security agencies on ground in Borno State will continue to interact and support the State Government officials in their efforts to inform the public on the Chibok incident and progress in the search without any prejudice,” he said. “The Nigerian Military has always subscribed to the importance of information flow to the public and will continue to sustain this policy in all its internal security operations.”
Borno and two other states have been under emergency rule in the past year, presumably swamped by federal security agencies, and the DHQ statement seemed to stand Nigeria’s constitutional structure on its head. “The security forces on ground in the state have been directed to coordinate with the State Government and provide them with necessary information on the search for the girls,” the statement said.
It is unclear how federal authorities will handle the supposed search for the girls, while the state government will brief the public about their progress, if any.
Full text of the statement:
DEFENCE HEADQUARTERS
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
P M B 309
GARKI - ABUJA
DHQ/ABJ/901/32/DDI
ABDUCTION: DHQ STREAMLINES INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The Nigerian Armed Forces understands and appreciates the concerns being shown by all citizens in and out of the country on the unfortunate incident of abduction of some female students from Government Secondary School Chibok, Borno State.
Alongside the search for the girls, the military is currently committed to various security operations in most parts of Northern Nigeria where troops are deployed in forests and mountains combating terrorists and armed gangs of various descriptions. The military reaffirms its unflinching resolve to continue to discharge its responsibility in defending the territorial integrity and the people of Nigeria in the most professional manner. This will apply in the search for the missing girls which is ongoing concurrently with other security operations nationwide.
A lot of information has been received in the efforts at securing the freedom of the girls. The Armed Forces assures all Nigerians that it will continue to appraise every information received during this operation accordingly. Unfortunately however, most of the information, some of which have been mischievously publicized for sensational reasons, have always turned out to be spurious and of no operational use. Disturbingly, some of them have been mischievously sensationalized and publicized with a view to heightening tension and inflicting more pain on the nation as envisaged by the terrorists. Nevertheless, the forces will remain disposed to receiving, analyzing and applying all relevant information on this issue. While it will not relent in its efforts in this search, the Armed Forces is mindful of the fact that some of the information with which it has been inundated are actually a ploy to distract it from its goal of dealing with terrorism and other violent crimes aimed at crippling the nation.
While the military efforts at recovering the girls is continuing, the Government of Borno State whose Commissioner for Education has been giving a regular update on the incident at initial stage is enjoined to continue in order to satisfy the necessity for information flow. The Borno State Government in whose facility the incident occurred is appropriately placed to continue with regular briefing as the State Commissioner for Education has been doing. This is in line with best practices in other climes more so as all agencies of every tier of Government are expected to continue functioning in the state. Accordingly, security agencies on ground in Borno State will continue to interact and support the State Government officials in their efforts to inform the public on the Chibok incident and progress in the search without any prejudice. The Nigerian Military has always subscribed to the importance of information flow to the public and will continue to sustain this policy in all its internal security operations.
In view of the need to provide daily updates on the search of the abducted girls, the Defence Headquarters has directed that henceforth, progress reports on the search will be handled by the Borno State Government. The security forces on ground in the state have been directed to coordinate with the State Government and provide them with necessary information on the search for the girls.
CHRIS OLUKOLADE
Major General
Director Defence Information
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