The Australian Government said, Tuesday, it was offering to deploy its Special Forces to help Nigeria rescue more than 200 school girls abducted more than a month ago by extremist Boko Haram.
Australia said the Special Air Service, SAS, regiment are on standby to deploy for the rescue if the Nigerian government accepts the offer.
Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, told Sky News Tuesday that Nigeria is yet to respond.
“Australian troops, the SAS are always on standby for contingencies,” Ms. Bishop said.
“We have made an offer to the Nigerian government to provide whatever support they need to release the girls. We’ve made a specific offer to our UK and US allies … that we are ready to assist in whatever way we can.
“We have not had a response from the Nigerian government.
“They’ve thanked us for our willingness to be involved in trying to rescue the girls but we haven’t had any specific acceptance of the offers that we’ve made.”
The schoolgirls were seized by the insurgent group, Boko Haram, April 14.
They have remained in captivity despite a throng of support from the United States, United Kingdom, France and Israel- all providing surveillance and intelligence support, and specialist teams.
The Nigerian military recently said it knows the location of the girls but would not use force to free them so as not to jeopardise their safety.
Until now, no country offered to send troops into Nigeria for the rescue operations.
The closest was the deployment of 80 troops to Chad by the U.S., which said the personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area.
But support for Nigeria have come with a price, with the government taking a humiliating blow over its handling of the Boko Haram crisis. The Nigerian military has also been ridiculed for its shrinking capacity.
A senior U.S. official said the once powerful Nigerian force had become so ineffective it is now “afraid to engage” Boko Haram.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni also spoke of his preference for suicide, to the foreign military help Nigeria received.
It is not clear if Nigeria’s reluctance at the Australian offer is informed by such backlash.
Australia was first mentioned in the Chibok abduction saga when it emerged last week that a key negotiator commissioned by the Nigerian government to reach out to Boko Haram, is the Australian cleric, Stephen Davis.
Mr. Davis was secretly hired to negotiate the release of the girls, and he came close to a deal two weeks ago before the Nigerian government backed off, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.
The cleric has warned that some of the kidnapped girls are now ill and in need of urgent medical attention.
It also remains unclear what role his apparent knowledge of the girls’ conditions and location, now plays with his country’s offer to help free the girls.
Back home, the Australian government also faces call for caution.
The country’s Green Party, which holds minority seats in the parliament, said the government must come clean with details of the Nigeria operation before getting involved.
“The Greens want to see the schoolgirls in Nigeria rescued,” the party’s leader, Christine Milne, was quoted by ABC Australia as saying.
“It is shocking to think all those young women have been dragged away and we don’t know the circumstances in which they find themselves but I think the PM needs to inform Australia fully as to what Australia would be getting into if we sent troops into Africa.”
The party said it was concerned at Australia again joining a coalition to take on another terrorist war in sub-Saharan Africa, as it did in Afghanistan. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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You people should first find Malaysia airline, Then to talk about girls to rescue,racists souls. Nigeria must be careful about those green snakes in green grass countries that are very inquisitive over Nigeria issue this time for excuses to rescue girls. Nigeria leaders, make you people open eyes and brains reason like a human being, do not accept or response to any offer again. Our soldiers that is in Mali and liberal and other Africa countries bring them back to come assist fight terrorist. Than to keep on accepting unnecessary offers from evil minded countries that intend by tricks to plot and take the advantage to make their plans successful. You people remember none of this countries that asking to help, didn't like Nigeria, they only pretending and have evil bad mission in their heart only.
ReplyDeleteThey want to come and insult Nigerian military again like US. Since they said that Nigerian soldiers are weak while theirs are strong, what stopped them from rescuing the girls or even stop the bombings and shootings by boko haram??? Nigeria should solve their problem, those who sponsor boko haram, I pray that one day God will touch their minds and they will stop it. Nigeria is not known as terrorist country until recently.
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