US secretary of state leaves allies bemused by saying no one else 'even
offered' to help - as three British teams and one RAF spy plane join search.
John Kerry has caused bemusement by claiming that “only” America was helping
to find the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram and no other
country had “even offered” to assist.
The US secretary of state spoke as three teams of British advisers worked in
Nigeria to locate the 270 missing girls, aided by an RAF surveillance
aircraft. One of those groups of officials is specifically charged with
liaising with America.
France has also sent advisers to Nigeria and a summit took place in Paris last
Saturday on the threat posed by Boko Haram. Israel and China have also
offered to assist the search.
Nonetheless, Mr Kerry appears to believe the US is acting alone. During an
event at the State Department marking the 90th anniversary of the creation
of the American diplomatic service, Mr Kerry said: “Boko Haram, Nigeria –
only the United States is there offering the assistance to help find those
young women. Other countries not only aren’t they invited, but they didn’t
even offer. That’s a difference, and I think it’s a difference worth
dwelling on."
A Western diplomatic security source in Lagos, the Nigerian commercial
capital, voiced dismay over Mr Kerry’s remarks. “It's all been pretty
shambolic and careless on the Nigerian side,” he said. “If we now reckon
coordination between the Americans and the Brits and the rest is also pretty
poor, then we - and the schoolgirls - are much worse off than we’d thought."
The abduction of the schoolgirls on April 14 focused global attention on the
suffering caused by Boko Haram, a radical Islamist movement based in
northern Nigeria. Two days after Islamist fighters kidnapped the girls from
their boarding school in Borno state, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary,
condemned a “cowardly act” and offered to “help the Nigerian government
ensure that these children can be returned to their families”
On April 18, Mr Hague agreed to send a team of British advisers during a phone
call with Aminu Bashir Wali, the Nigerian foreign minister. This consisted
of between eight and 10 officials, including specialists in
counter-terrorism, hostage negotiation and victim support.
On May 14, David Cameron announced that a British military team would also go
to Nigeria to “embed” in army headquarters. A third team of British
officials would be sent to the country to liaise with America and “work with
US experts to analyse information on the girls’ location”.
On the same day, President Goodluck Jonathan accepted Britain’s help during a
meeting with Mark Simmonds, the Foreign Office minister responsible for
Africa.
An RAF Sentinel reconnaissance plane was also dispatched, although it was
delayed in Senegal by technical problems. The Ministry of Defence confirmed
yesterday that the aircraft was now “operational” and helping the search
from a base in Ghana.
“The UK and international partners are working with Nigeria in helping them
secure the girls’ release,” said a Foreign Office spokesman, adding that all
this assistance was being provided in coordination with America.
This joint effort, apparently invisible to the US secretary of state, may also
encounter difficulties with Nigeria’s government
The country’s relatively small army of 62,000 personnel has been accused of
boosting support for Boko Haram with a series of clumsy and bloodstained
operations. More than 500 people died in March when soldiers opened fire on
crowds during a mass escape from a prison in Maiduguri, a state capital in
Boko Haram’s heartland.
Boko Haram may also be emboldened by the publicity surrounding the
disappearance of the schoolgirls, warned Kyari Mohammed of the Centre for
Peace Studies at Modibbo Adama University in Nigeria. “They have sleeper
cells all over the northern part of the country and they're activating
them,” he said. “We have succeeded in giving them the kind of profile that
they didn't have. They are now a bigger player.
