UK claims divulging information about Chibok girls will damage ties with Nigeria

Available information has it that the United Kingdom, UK, is withholding sensitive information regarding the whereabouts of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents since April 14, 2014.

Shortly after the UK-based Security in Africa, SIA, group wrote to the British Defence Ministry, through its founder, Ben Oguntala, to seek information on the Chibok girls, the British government disclosed that revealing details of what it found on the location of the abducted girls would clearly damage its relationship with Nigeria and other allies.

The SIA founder told Punch that, “The information was sent on January 30 this year and the UK government has 20 days to comply. They do have a defence of national security and that would prevent them from disclosing the information. Let’s hope they don’t. If they rely on national security defence, we can raise the matter with the Information Commissioner’s office to determine if their claim of national security is reasonable.”

The British Ministry of Defence, MOD, which reacted in a letter dated February 25, a copy of which was made available to PUNCH, noted that some of the information requested “falls entirely within the scope of the qualified exemption provided for at section 27 (International Relations) of the FOIA and has been withheld.”

“Section 27 is a qualified exemption and is subject to public interest testing which means that the information requested can only be withheld if the public interest in doing so outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

“Section 27(1)(a), (1)(c) and (2) have been applied because some of the information has the potential to adversely affect relations with our allies. 

“We have considered it necessary to apply the higher level of prejudice against release of the exempted information at the higher level of ‘would’ rather than ‘would be likely to’ adversely affect relations with our allies.”

The British defence ministry, which agreed to share details of the “technology, technique or methodology” used in its search, refused to release details of where the UK soldiers searched and the results of their findings.