Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to offer all available assistance and support to the Nigerian Government in its attempts to secure the immediate release of the children abducted in recent weeks by Boko Haram, and utterly condemns this despicable crime against humanity.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, to the House and thank him for taking the time to debate this motion. As we all know, more than 230 girls were abducted from a boarding school in the northern Nigerian town of Chibok by the militant Islamic group Boko Haram on 14 April 2014. An estimated 200 heavily armed militants arrived at night in 20 vehicles to steal supplies and kidnap the students. In the local Hausa language, Boko Haram means "Western education is evil" or "Western education is forbidden," so the abductions indicate a hatred for Western education. The group promotes the puritanical Islamic view that a woman's place is in the home.
Some very disturbing information has emerged in respect of these abductions. Possibly up to 90% of those abducted were Christians. The governor of Borno state failed to honour a commitment to ensure the security of the girls during examinations in the school. There was no adult in the school grounds watching over 230 girls apart from one security man. There was no electricity generator operating on the campus. Children were alone in their dormitories when they were carried away by their captors. The soldiers who were guarding the school were redeployed a few hours before Boko Haram launched its attack. It has also emerged that the kidnapped girls are being raped by their captors and are being forced to convert to Islam.
It is clear that this terrorist organisation is particularly sinister and barbaric and has close links to the Taliban, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and al-Qaeda. The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, is a ruthless psychopath who has played a key part in taking the organisation down the road of all-out war on the rest of Nigeria. His organisation is reputed to have murdered up to 5,000 people in the past five years. More moderate commanders who have argued with him have been killed, and he believes it is okay to kill anyone who disagrees with him.
We can only imagine the anguish and worry experienced by the parents of these schoolgirls whose only crime was to try to have their children educated. The international response to the kidnapping was slow and disappointing but, thankfully, has gained momentum in recent days. It is very much to be welcomed that the UK, the US and France have sent specialist teams and equipment to help Nigeria's military in the search for the missing girls.

Pope Francis, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other religious leaders throughout the world have pledged their support and prayers for the safe return of the girls. We all hope that recent indications that the girls are alive are accurate but obviously the demands being made by the terrorists for the release of prisoners will be a particularly difficult issue for the Nigerian Government. All members of this House want the Government to do everything possible as a matter of urgency to help reunite these schoolgirls with their distraught parents.

We hope, given our involvement with the country through our missionaries and Irish Aid that we would have high credibility within Nigeria. I urge the Minister of State to encourage our EU partners to engage proactively in assisting the Nigerian Government in the search. I would be very interested to hear from the Minister of State, Deputy Costello as to what actions the Government proposes to take to assist in the search. These abductions are a major human rights violation that cannot be ignored by the international community. We must play our part in obtaining justice for these families. The Government will have the support of every Member of this House in whatever actions it decides to take.