President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that the Chibok who are more than 200 kidnapped by Boko Haram from their hostel at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State, are still alive.
The president revealed this within an interview with the African Independent Television in a current affairs programme, Kaakaki earlier today
In accordance with Punch, the President’s declare that girls were still being kept by Boko Haram contradicted Abubakar Shekau’s statement in a video released in October 2014 to the media he said he had allegedly married off the pupils. In a prior statement, the group’s leader had threatened to market girls as slave brides
Jonathan argued that if the schoolgirls have been killed, the Boko Haram insurgents’commander, Shekau, would have released a video showing how they girls were murdered. Based on the President, the Nigerian security forces may also be wary of storming the key stronghold of the terrorists since they fear the insurgents may utilize the girls as shields.
He explained, “Because they may use them as shields so we are working with the global best practices. We can’t just move in with artillery and clear the place. The good story is that they’ve not been killed. They are still alive because when terrorists kill they display.”
The President however contradicted his assertion, during his Monday interview with the cable TV news channel, Al Jazeera that the Federal Government didn’t mishandle the Boko Haram insurgency, claiming that the insecurity problem didn’t start during his tenure.
President Goodluck Jonathan said, “At the beginning, we did not really estimate the capacity of Boko Haram. But over the years they continued to build their capacity with links with other terrorist groups. I believe we’ve got up to 65 per cent of what is needed to prosecute this war.”
He added that the military force was winning the war contrary to the insurgents, noting that only Madagali still remains underneath the control of the terrorist group in Adamawa State.
“People will want to go back when they no longer hear stories of Boko Haram invasion. We launched the Victims’ Support Fund to aid in rehabilitating them. The Victims’ Support Fund is not managed directly by government but by the private sector,” the President stated.
