I can’t take responsibility for Chibok girls’ abduction – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan says there is sense of worry
among Nigerians regarding the neutrality of government agencies
that will take part in the conduct of the 2019 general
elections.

He also said he could not take responsibility for the April 14,
2014 abduction of Chibok schoolgirls in Borno State.

Jonathan, however, said he had faith in the Independent National
Electoral Commission, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army
and the Department of State Services to do well.

The former President said this during an interview on BBC.

He said, “We are a bit worried about the neutrality of the
relevant agencies of government because with previous elections, I
was not in the field. Of course after every election, people will
complain naturally but those are the areas people are getting
worried but I believe the elections will come and go and those
bodies- INEC, the police, the army and the DSS will be able to do
well.”

On the abduction of the over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko
Haram in 2014, Jonathan said he could not take the blame for the
incident.

Jonathan said rather, Boko Haram should be blamed for the
abduction of the girls in 2014 because as a President he could not
go to the battlefield to fight insurgents.

He said, “I cannot take responsibility for the abduction, I
don’t control Boko Haram. They are criminals. But as a President,
of course you know it is not the President that goes to the field.
You have security and intelligence officers that do the work.

“Let me admit that yes, maybe they did their best but their best
was not good enough for us to recover the girls. That I cannot say
I am right or I am wrong. That does not mean I am trying to remove
myself from any blame.

“I may not be blamed for the action but I could be blamed that
my security intelligence system was not strong enough to rescue the
girls. If I as a politician could tell the whole world that my
political ambition for any office is not worth the blood of a
single Nigerian, how would I be happy that girls have been
kidnapped? I am not that kind of character.”

The former President also lamented the way the Chibok issue was
politicised.

He wondered why a First Lady of the United States would take
part in carrying a ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ placard.

Jonathan said, “Immediately the Chibok issue came up, we
expected Nigerians to be concerned about how to get these girls
out. Within a couple of days, we saw people going to the US with
‘Bring Back Our Girls’ placards. How? Why? And of course Mrs. Obama
received one of those placards.”

The former President reiterated his concern over the supposed
interference of President Barack Obama during the build-up to the
2015 general elections.

Jonathan questioned the rationale behind the visit of US
Secretary of State, John Kerry, to Nigeria on the eve of the
elections, adding that such an interference should not be swept
under kept

He said, “The level of interference by the Obama government was
very overwhelming. It is not as if I could not have won the
election even with that. If by my own thinking and also the way
other people looked at it, they go outside the normal diplomatic
relationship, then it should be mentioned.

“Sending that person to Nigeria on the eve of elections even
after Obama had issued a statement directing Nigerians to vote for
the next chapter, that tells you something and we should not sweep
these things under the carpet.

“If a foreign country whether African country or America
interferes with our own elections, we should mention it.”

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