Don’t Ignore Boko Haram/ISIS Alliance- BBOG

The #BringBackOurGirls advocacy group has cautioned the Federal Government against treating with levity, Boko Haram’s reported allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.The group, therefore, urged the government to probe the implications of the alliance and to work hard to frustrate such a deadly collaboration.

The BBOG in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, also demanded full disclosure on the previous and current rescue operations of the 219 Chibok schoolgirls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram since April 14, 2014.

The statement, signed by Co-coordinators, Oby Ezekwesili and Hadiza Bala-Usman, expressed regrets that none of the girls had been rescued inspite of the progress recorded against Boko Haram by security forces in the North-East.

 It said, “The alliance of Boko Haram and ISIS, which has been a trending issue, was seemingly downplayed by the Nigerian authorities. While this position could be interpreted as a strategy to avert creating panic in the minds of the citizens, we hope that there are concerted efforts behind the scenes to scrutinize the possible implications.

“The pronouncement by ISIS that fighters should join Boko Haram must not be dismissed as a mere publicity stunt. Libya, which already has a significant ISIS presence, shares borders with our immediate neighbour Niger”.

The BBOG noted that since the counter-insurgency operation was two-thirds gone based on the established time scale, the military needed to provide a detailed account of how much ground had been covered and the objectives that had been achieved.

I support the BBOG group on this and I think it would be worthwhile to look into this issue. There is no smoke without fire really, therefore the FG should take this very seriously before it escalates into something we can’t handle.