Nigerian security forces were repeatedly warned about the presence of Boko Haram fighters near the town of Dapchi, but failed to respond, allowing insurgents to kidnap 110 schoolgirls in the country's restive northeast almost unharrassed, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
The kidnapping on Feb. 19 of the girls from Dapchi, aged between 11-19, had echoes of the radical insurgency’s abduction in 2014 of 276 students from the town of Chibok, which shot Nigeria’s conflict with Boko Haram, now nine years old, into the global spotlight.
President Muhammadu Buhari has called the Dapchi abduction a "national disaster" and vowed to use negotiation rather than force to secure their release.
But as in Chibok nearly four years ago, human rights group Amnesty International claimed the military was warned about the arrival of the heavily-armed jihadists -- yet failed to act.
In the hours that followed both attacks, the authorities also tried to claim the girls had not been abducted.
“The Nigerian authorities have failed in their duty to protect civilians, just as they did in Chibok four years ago,” said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty’s Nigeria director, in Tuesday’s report.
“Despite being repeatedly told that Boko Haram fighters were heading to Dapchi, it appears that the police and military did nothing to avert the abduction,” she said.
A military spokesman denied that they had been warned of Boko Haram presence in the region, saying: “There was nothing like that.” He said if Amnesty had important information, the watchdog should notify a presidential panel set up in the wake of Dapchi to investigate the incident.
Ojigho said "no lessons appear to have been learned" from Chibok and called for an immediate probe into what she called "inexcusable security lapses".
"The government's failure in this incident must be investigated and the findings made public -- and it is absolutely crucial that any investigation focuses on the root causes," she added.
Amnesty alleged that the Nigerian army and police received at least five phone calls warning that Boko Haram was on the way to Dapchi as early as four hours before the attack, but did not take “effective measures” to halt the militants or rescue the girls once they had been taken.
“The military withdrew troops from the area in January, meaning the closest personnel were based one hour’s drive from Dapchi,” the report said.
One month after the abductions, there has been little sign of the fate of the 110 schoolgirls.
Neither their parents nor Nigerian authorities have publicly acknowledged receiving any proof of life, the students have not appeared in any media issued by the kidnappers, nor has there been a public ransom demand.
“The Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed this abduction to take place without any tangible attempt to prevent it,” said Ojigho in the report.
Nigeria’s Buhari said last week he had ordered all military and security agencies to search for them, vowing that the government would not rest until the last girl kidnapped by insurgents has been released.
Buhari has also said he plans to negotiate for their release - a sign that the military may not be able to successfully rescue them.
BOKO HARAM UNDEFEATED?The Dapchi abduction has thrown into doubt repeated government and military claims that Boko Haram is on the brink of defeat, after nearly nine years of fighting and at least 20,000 deaths.
Boko Haram, which has used kidnapping as a weapon of war during the conflict, has not claimed responsibility but it is believed a faction headed by Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi is behind it.
ISIS in August 2015 publicly backed Barnawi as the leader of Boko Haram, or ISIS West Africa Province, over Abubakar Shekau, whose supporters carried out the Chibok abduction.
Analysts have attributed a financial motive to the Dapchi kidnapping given government ransom payments made to Boko Haram to secure the release of some of the captives from Chibok.
