Chibok Abduction: Nigeria Military Surrenders Information Management to Borno State Government

Posted: May, 02 2014, 10:05AM

Protesters demanding release of Chibok high school girls abducted by Boko Haram militants

By SaharaReporters, New York

Nigeria’s federal authorities on Monday surrendered to the government of Borno State its information responsibilities concerning the abducted Chibok girls.
In a curious statement, Defence Headquarters spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade, who famously made the false announcement two weeks ago that the girls had been rescued, and then rescinded it, said the Borno government “in whose facility the incident occurred” would now provide the public with regular briefing on the matter.
“Accordingly, security agencies on ground in Borno State will continue to interact and support the State Government officials in their efforts to inform the public on the Chibok incident and progress in the search without any prejudice,” he said.   “The Nigerian Military has always subscribed to the importance of information flow to the public and will continue to sustain this policy in all its internal security operations.”
Borno and two other states have been under emergency rule in the past year, presumably swamped by federal security agencies, and the DHQ statement seemed to stand Nigeria’s constitutional structure on its head.  “The security forces on ground in the state have been directed to coordinate with the State Government and provide them with necessary information on the search for the girls,” the statement said.
It is unclear how federal authorities will handle the supposed search for the girls, while the state government will brief the public about their progress, if any.