Chibok Girls: Obasanjo Has Access to Presidency- Federal Govt
Category: Boko Haram News
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
access to President Goodluck Jonathan to make inputs towards rescuing
the schoolgirls taken captive by Boko Haram from the Government
Secondary School in Chibok on April 14, the Federal Government has said.
The Chairman, National Information
Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, stated this while answering questions from
journalists on Obasanjo’s claim that he could help resolve issues with
members of the terrorist group.
Obasanjo had, in a BBC Hausa service on
Thursday, said he could help reach out to the insurgents for the release
of the girls, but regretted that the Federal Government had not yet
given him the green light to act.
Omeri said it was not proper for him to
join issues with Obasanjo, but added that as a former President, he had
the opportunity to make inputs into governance.
Omeri said the purported abduction of 20
Fulani women near Chibok was doubtful as troops had claimed that no
such report had been received.
He said, “It has been confirmed that there is no police report to the effect that Fulani women have been abducted.
“This story may likely be part of the
general misinformation being peddled to create the impression that the
insurgents are inaccessible.
“We wish to announce that surveillance
and patrols by land and air activities of troops are still on-going in
the entire mission area of the North-East and other parts of the
federation to curtail the activities of terrorists and armed groups.
“There have been occasional encounters
necessitating continuous cordon and search in many locations. In the
same vein, consultations and contacts are still on-going with partners
who have offered to support Nigeria’s endeavours to resolve the issues
on the abduction of the Chibok girls as well as terrorism generally.”
Against this background, he added that
the Nigerian military had been discussing with its counterpart from Sri
Lanka in addition to other countries.
Omeri added that as part of government’s
commitment towards ensuring adequate security of schools, a workshop
for security awareness for public and private schools had been scheduled
for Mogadishu Cantonment in Abuja.
Meanwhile, a group, Muslim Rights
Concern, had urged President Jonathan to give Obasanjo the go-ahead to
secure the release of abducted Chibok girls.
The group, in a statement issued on
Friday by its Director, Prof. Isaq Akintola, said that the primary
responsibility of a government was the protection of lives and property.
The group said, “MURIC urges President
Jonathan to expedite action on the matter now before it is too late. The
Federal Government should be happy that it is an ex-president of
Nigeria who has seized this initiative and not any of the former
presidents of the United States or an ex-Prime Minister of Britain. It
remains the pride of Nigeria if we are able to resolve this kidnap saga
in-house. It will also be the pride of the African continent.”
Obasanjo had on Thursday in an interview
with Hausa service of BBC, said that he could reach out to the violent
Boko Haram sect over the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls by the
sect.
He, however, regretted that the Federal Government had yet to give him the go-ahead.
MURIC said, “We consider this
development as light at the end of the tunnel. We are however astonished
that the Federal Government is yet to come to fully comprehend the
far-reaching implications of the Chibok girls imbroglio. Time is running
out fast.
“We remind the Federal Government that
the primary responsibility of governments is the protection of lives and
properties. The buck stops at the table of the President and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”
Source: Punch
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