By Denrele Animasaun

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” — Marcus Aurelius

Everyone that has been following the plight of the Chibbok girls had wished upon hope that the army would deliver and rescue the Chibook girls alive and well. How they must have prayed that the girls will all come home, safe and sound. So when the news broke that the Nigerian military had rescued over 200 girls and 93 women from the forest hideout of Boko Haram, there was euphoric responses that the good news will be that the Chibook girls will be among their numbers.

The military did say that the said girls were being “screened and profiled” to determine where they came from as the troops had captured and destroyed three terrorists’ camps where it was believed that the girls were been held at the Tokumbere camp in the Sambisa forest operation.

Home and abroad and the media poised for a favourable confirmation and of course, it was not to be. The army said that the hundreds of women and girls rescued from the BH camps last Tuesday, were indeed not the same ones who were kidnapped from a Chibok school last April. A year after the girls were abducted, it would have been the good news that Nigeria was waiting for. ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign’s founder, Obiageli Ezekwesili, said it was “heart-breaking” that the Chibok girls were not found, but added that any rescue is good news. So true. She said; “That these girls and women who were also captives of those savages (for God knows how long) can now breathe the air of freedom is certainly victory,” she told TIME magazine.

And she added that; “We can seize on their rescue to add more pressure on our Government to spare no effort in finding our #ChibokGirls and all other abductees.” Time the insurgent is consigned to the history book and people can truly start living again and the country can no longer be held to ransom by a rag tag motley crew.

Although, this is good news, the Chibook girls have become the symbolic rescue that the world and the nation are waiting for. It would have been a tremendous psychological release, for everyone who had followed the campaign. It is equally a relief nonetheless as Amnesty International estimated that this year alone,over 2,000 women and girls were kidnapped and that the insurgent have so far killed nearly 20,000 people.

Information gathered from the rescued or the escaped told of their horrors and that most were often raped, forced into marriage, or sold into sexual slavery. Disturbingly enough, some of the abductees have been forced to become soldiers, suicide bombers to attack their own villages.

Civilians have borne the brunt of the violence and, according to human rights group, Amnesty International more than 5,500 civilians have been killed and more than 1.5 million people, including 800,000 children, have been displaced and many becoming refugees in neighbouring countries. This is definitely a crime against humanity and we hope that the collective international army deliver a substantial blow to rid Nigeria of this scourge once and for all. Too many lives have been lost and the damage to property, lives and business is incalculable. One of the damage is that of the emotional damage it has inflicted on ordinary citizens. This will be felt for many years to come.

At the moment, the lives of the affected areas are dispersed and true costs in monetary terms is unimaginable but crucially is the true costs of lives interrupted, lives destroyed, trauma of losing family or loved ones. This has not been at least to public knowledge, been dealt with nor addressed.

The experiences that the rescued women and girls have gone through does not end with the freedom, in fact the nightmare will continue for some time yet. They may be initially excited over their freedom. The full reality of what they endure will hurt them and then the symptoms of the trauma will manifest. In fact before they are returned home they should be debriefed, assessed and offered the service of counsellors for them and their families. The experience and the exposure to wanton violence over a prolonged period, undoubtedly means that they will experience post-traumatic stress disorder. As people, we often down play such manifestation and dismiss any form of mental anguish outright, we can become impatient and judgemental with people dealing with such trauma. The rescued, carry not just the physical but the psychological scars for much longer, if not addressed. These abductees cannot simply pick up their lives where they left off   before the abduction. They would need help and understanding to adjust to life after such trauma.

They will exhibit depression, suicidal ideation, overwhelming sadness, intrusive thoughts, survivors guilt, isolation, sometimes mutism, flash backs, nightmares of their life in captivity, severity and frequency of trauma-related mental suffering, particularly of those who have been abducted and exposed to a prolonged and sustained level of violence and depravity.

The longer they have been abducted, the higher the risk and the severity of the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) I do hope that there are provision for the newly liberated girls and women are given access to counsellors and assistance to resettle them and their family in a safe place when they can begin the healing process. The healing of such trauma takes time and understanding from family, relatives and friends.

The Knives are out

“When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.” … Plato

I see the knives are already out and sharpen to cast aspersions that GMB cannot adjust to civil life and of course, to declare and ram in their accusation all along; that he has reverted to type; a dictator. The ban on AIT was announced as something GMB has decreed. Ban on AIT. It was reported that President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, had instructed all his staff, including the personnel attached directly to him, to steer clear of all dealings with the media, and leave all media affairs to his official media team. And when the story took a life of its own the rumour mill were happy to fan the fire even more.

But in a later statement by the Directorate of Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, that APC which had earlier expressed disagreement with the temporary barring of the African Independent Television (AIT) from covering GMB and his activities. So what exactly is going on?

Of course the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, were rubbing their hands in glee to convince Nigerians that they were right all along about GMB. So GMB stepped forward to chide the overzealous aides in his party that; “I would like everyone to henceforth stay within his/her defined area of responsibility”. He has also said that his media team should be left to continue to deal with their media colleagues in the best possible way.