Chibok Girls May Be Hypnotised and Brainwashed Into Insurgents Themselves - Shehu Sani

50 days after the seizure of the over 200 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram, civil rights activist, Shehu Sani, yesterday, raised the alarm on the fate of the victims.

Sani, who was at the forefront of two failed bids to broker peace between  Boko Haram and government, told Sunday Vanguard that the prolonged abduction of the girls by the Islamist group could dramatically alter the fate and orientation of the girls.

According to Sani, the longer the girls were  kept   by their captors, the higher the potential of their being hypnotised and brainwashed to accept radicalism and terrorism.

”But the danger of keeping these girls, without either using negotiation or force to free them, is that, everyday these girls are being brainwashed by the insurgents,” the former negotiator said.” If we are not careful, the Chibok girls that would come out of captivity would not be the same girls that went into captivity. They would be indoctrinated, they would be hypnotised and brainwashed to the point that they would be transformed into insurgents themselves. And of what use will they be then?”These are very young girls in their teens with very open and vulnerable minds but open to dangerous ideas. You can see how a man would abduct a girl, whose parents don’t like him and by the time the girl comes back she is ready to fight with her parents.”So, the danger is that as the clocks ticks, it is ticking for us , for the girls and for our reputation and integrity as a country.”

Asked if the insurgents were ready to take the window of the opportunity provided by the Federal Government to lay down their arms and accept amnesty, Sani said the government was unserious and insincere over amnesty for the insurgents.
The President of Civil Rights Congress said it was not possible for President Goodluck Jonathan to give amnesty and also declare full scale war against the insurgents.

He asked:” How can the insurgents come out and enter the open door of the amnesty when there is a price tag on the head of the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, by the United States, which was also supported by the Nigerian government?
”How can the insurgents enter the open door of the amnesty when already there is an anti-terrorism law that outlaws the group and criminalises any form of communication with its members?

Shehu Sani

”How can the insurgents embrace the open door provided by the amnesty when there is a state of emergency in place and forces to go after any insurgent that rears his head up?How can the insurgents embrace the amnesty when Nigeria sponsored the resolution at the United Nations that blacklisted the group?How can the insurgents avail themselves of amnesty when Nigeria invited the United States, Israel, France and Britain, whose drones are already hovering over their heads? I think what we have is a President that is confused and does not know how to handle the Boko Haram situation.”