Chibok: Jonathan says terrorism is sad, Boko Haram won’t last forever
on june 20, 2014 at 6:07 pm in news

Abuja - President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday described terrorism as a sad event
and assured Nigerians that the evil the Boko Haram sect represented would not last
forever.
Jonathan made the remark while receiving a report from the presidential fact-
finding committee on the abducted Chibok female students at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja.
Jonathan inaugurated the committee on May 6 to provide government with
accurate information about the abduction.
The Chairman of the committee is Brig.-Gen. Ibrahim Sabo.
The president said he would not rest until terror was crushed in the country
because “Nigeria can no longer live with the monster called Boko Haram.”
Jonathan described the abduction as painful, especially as the Chibok girls were
still in the hands of criminal elements.
He reiterated his position that he and the security agencies would not sleep until
the girls were rescued.
Jonathan said that terror attack anywhere was an attack on everyone.
He said that contrary to the belief that security agencies were not doing enough to
end terrorism, “they are doing their best but they should do more to end insurgency
in the country.’’
Jonathan commended the chairman and members of the committee for their
commitment and patriotism in the discharge of their responsibility even at personal
risk.
Presenting the report, Sabo confirmed that a total of 219 of the girls were still
missing.
He disclosed that a total of 276 girls were abducted by members of the Boko
Haram Sect at the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, Borno on
April 14.
According to him, 119 students escaped from the school’s premises before the
insurgents took away their classmates, while 57 of those abducted escaped and
have been reunited with their families.
Sabo said: “The committee here wishes to lay to rest any residual doubt as to
whether or not any student was abducted at Chibok.’’
“As most Nigerians already know, there were some persons who doubted whether
in fact any student was abducted.
“On the other hand, for those who believed that there was abduction, there were
lingering doubts as to how such a number of kidnap victims were conveyed,
considering also that information was sparse as to how the insurgents evacuated the
victims.
“A total of 276 students were thus abducted.
“As of today, 57 of the abducted students have been reunited with their families
after escaping along zig-zag transport route taken by the insurgents or by bolting to
safety when the insurgents were resting.
“Sadly, 219 students remain unaccounted for,’’ he said.
The chairman said that the committee received the full cooperation of the people
and interacted with different stakeholders considered relevant to the fact-finding
mission.
He, however, said that a particular senator from Borno, whose name he did not
mention, shunned the committee after he had initially agreed to an appointment.
“The singular exception was a senator from Borno who, after agreeing to an
appointment with the committee, turned around to avoid the meeting on the excuse
that he had another appointment and would thereafter be unavailable for one month
or so.
“Not that his non-appearance has materially or in any way affected the outcome of
the committee’s findings, but the senator’s avoidance of an interface with the
committee may well speak to a motive not too difficult to discern,’’ he said.
Sabo noted that though Nigerians and the rest of the world had been galvanised to
drum up support for the freedom of the girls, little would be achieved through
finger-pointing.
“Getting the girls out and safely too, is of more importance than the publicity
generated by the blame game that has tended to becloud the issue,” he said. (NAN)Dxdffsdddd