President Jonathan Says Chibok Girls Alive

President Goodluck Jonathan has assured that the Chibok Secondary School girls abducted in April, last year by Boko Haram insurgents, are still alive and will be rescued.

He gave the assurance yesterday, when he appeared  on an African Independent Television (AIT) live discussion programme, Kaakaki, in Abuja.

He assured that the schoolgirls had not been killed by their captors, who would have been too happy to display their corpses for propaganda purposes. The President also admitted for the umpteenth time that his government underestimated the terrorist sect. He said that was why it was able to fester for so long because it started as a non-violent group, which later grew in capacity and later linked with international terror groups.

President Jonathan expressed confidence that with  65 per cent of the platform needed to prosecute the war now in the country, the remaining territories still in the hands of the insurgents would soon be recaptured before the weekend in the case of Adamawa and a week in the case of Yobe State. The president also disclosed that his administration would completely privatise the nation’s refineries to ensure efficiency in the oil sector. While assuring of his government’s commitment to resolving the current fuel scarcity, he said the country had to start refining her crude. He dismissed the insinuation that the recent reduction of fuel pump price from N97 to N87 was politically motivated, saying it was necessitated by the decline in the global oil price. He said Nigeria would stabilise in so many sectors in the next four years if he was re-elected.

On the whereabouts of the Chibok girls despite the military successes, Jonathan said: “We still have reasonable territories in the hands of Boko Haram. We promised that we must get the girls. The good story is that they have not killed them because the terrorists, when they kill, they display.

“They use it to intimidate the whole society. “The girls are alive. We will get the girls. “Luckily, we are narrowing down the area of their control. So, we will get them.” Jonathan explained that the military had been reluctant to move in with full force because of the tendency of terrorists to use captives as human shield, saying, “that is why the pace had to be slow.”

On why it took so long for the military to successfully come against Boko Haram, he said: “Yes, agreed that at the beginning, probably we did not really estimate the capacity of Boko Haram; it is obvious.“Boko Haram started as a non-violence group led by Yusuf, limited to around Maiduguri area, Yobe. They did not even get to Adamawa. “Just like every group of youths or young people is inclined to criminality, over the period, they expanded their network and linked up with other terrorist organisations like in the North Africa, like Al-Qaeda and other similar brands in the world.

“So, they continued to build their capacity and it got to a point that, for you to tackle them in the kind of environment they operate, you need some specialised equipment to use and we don’t manufacture these equipment.” He said the government encountered some difficulties at the beginning, including getting the necessary weapons from other countries, adding however, that about 65 per cent of the weapons is available to prosecute the war. “That is why the movement has changed. So, it is not deliberate,” he said. On efforts to return  the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their homes, Jonathan said the Nigerian troops after dislodging the insurgents, were mopping up the areas already liberated to ensure that Boko Haram did not carry out reprisal attacks, and give the people the confidence and courage to return home.

He expressed delight that the mop up exercises had succeeded so far, because there were no new reports of terrorists seizing territories, especially with the collaboration of neighbouring countries’ armies, which had blocked escape routes. On why the war on terror was succeeding, he said the African Union directives that the Lake Chad countries should cooperate, the Boko Haram insurgents, who before now, had no respect for boundaries have been caged and their windows for reprisals had been blocked as each of the countries were jointly fighting the terrorists.

Speaking on the fuel scarcity and the need to privatise the refineries following the fall in crude price, Jonathan said if re-elected, ‎he would ensure the  refineries are privatised, adding that  Nigeria’s policy recognised the fact that exporting raw materials means also exporting jobs.

President Jonathan denied that the recent reduction in fuel price was politically motivated even as he assured that the issues responsible for the current fuel scarcity were being addressed.

He said: “For the fuel scarcity, we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure it is taken care of. It is very temporary. Of course, the issues of payment are being addressed and we believe that within one or two days, this will completely go.”