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• How heads of security agencies stopped Jonathan –Okupe
By Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Molly Kilete, Kemi Yesufu and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan has called on the Nigerian Armed Forces to support claims it has cleared Sambisa, stronghold of Boko-Haram by providing the remaining 195 missing Chibok girls.
On Thursday, April 14, 2014, Boko Haram abducted 219 students of Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.
Yesterday, in Abuja, Cardinal Onaiyekan said government cannot tell the public it has technically defeated Boko Haram when 195 of the kidnaped girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok, are still held in captivity.
He said this at the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) protest, yesterday, to mark three years anniversary of the kidnapped girls.
The cleric was in company of other religious leaders, including Chief Imam of Apo Mosque, Sheikh Nura Khalid. Earlier, at exactly 2:08pm, Cardinal Onaiyekan, dressed in red robe, arrived Unity Fountain, venue of the BBOG campaign at in a Toyota Hilander, with registration number KUJ 832LE, accompanied by two other priests. He was received by BBOG leader, Oby Ezewkesili and other members of the group. The presence of the clergy man was a spiritual boost to the BBOG.
In an interview, shortly after tying the BBOG banner on the rails of the overhead bridge on the road leading to the Presidential Villa, Onaiyekan said “there are about 200 girls missing, for the last three years. So, I feel concerned about not only them, but, about many others, may be running into hundreds of other Nigerians, who are missing, especially by kidnappers. “Their families are languishing and we need to draw the attention of the all nations to this. We are glad that we are able to carry out this simple exercise of walking down the street, from the Unity Fountain, to this place, and we thank God for making the police available to protect us.
“This is not the first time I will join in this kind of walk. It was over one year ago, at that time, much of Sambisa was still under the control of the Boko Haram and when we marched, we hoped that our girls were somewhere, in the hands of Boko Haram, within those premises.
“Today, the situation is different. We have been told that the whole of Sambisa has been completely cleared and the question we are asking now is; where are our girls?
“They couldn’t just disappear. Those who are responsible for taking away these girls, whether they were Boko Haram or not, they have a first, major responsibility to tell us what has happened to our girls.
“And, whether they are alive or they are dead, or whether they are around or they have been sold off, they have the responsibility to tell, not only to tell the parents and the family of the girls, but Nigerians. And, we believe, too, that government ought to step up its action in this direction. That is what has brought us here and I believe that the rest of the world has been waiting to hear. Onayeikan, who also spoke on the disappearance of one of his priest, said “one of the major reason why I came is because this matter concerns me, personally, and that is why I brought some priests along with me.
“A Reverend Father, was taken by kidnappers, over a year ago and, up till now, we have no information about him. Now, that touches me, but, I am sure there are many Nigerians who are suffering the same thing from the loss of members of their families.
“And so, this march is not just about the Chibok girls, it’s about the whole idea that Nigerians will just disappear and we are not able to trace them.
On his part, Sheikh Khalid added: “I joined this peaceful march to demand the release of the Chibok girls and, also, because I want to equally send the message by Cardinal Onayeikan to Nigerians and the government, that we can never allow terrorists win the war. “If they go free with those girls, then, they have relatively won the war and that is what we cannot afford. And, also, we are tired of having Nigerians kidnapped and abducted, just like that! We want more actions from our government.” In Lagos, Dr. Doyin Okupe, former senior special assistant on Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, opened up to Daily Sun how a national broadcast on the girls’ abduction was allegedly scuttled by heads of security agencies in that administration.
“Jonathan’s response to the Chibok girls’ abduction was slow because the president was ill-advised. In retrospect now, we didn’t know those who were Fifth Columnists in that administration; those who wanted him to fail and those who actually aligned their forces with those who were against the president. I say this because, on the night of the kidnap, I met with the president, one on one, and I told him, ‘sir, you must make a national broadcast tomorrow morning, on this Chibok girls’ kidnap; otherwise, it would be something we may not be able to handle.’ And, he agreed with me and instructed me to go and prepare a statement.
“After I left him, I called one of my staff, Mr. Bamidele Salam, to meet me at home. I called a friend, a Public Relations Consultant, who had just flown in from the United States of America (USA); I told him to met me at home and one or two other people joined me. “We worked all through the night on that document; until 4:00am.
“By 7:30am of the following day, I was with the president and showed him the document and just then, he told me there was a security council meeting at 9:00am and that I should come along with the speech.
“As directed, I went to that meeting with the speech and it was killed!”
Asked who ‘killed’ the president’s proposed broadcast, Okupe simply reiterated: “It was killed,” and explained further that “people said it was not necessary for the president to make a broadcast and that details of the kidnap were not known, yet, and that it would pre-empt other details.
“I had the document with me and I read it to them, but the decision of that meeting was that the president should not make a broadcast to the country.”
He declined to mention those who were at the security council meeting on April 15, 2014.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to hasten negotiations for the release of the remainder of the girls still held in captivity.
The House also mandated its Committee on Women Affairs to ascertain the condition and level of rehabilitation so far carried out for the 21 girls released in October 2016. The call made by the House to the Federal Government was subsequent to the adoption of a motion for the Federal Government to expedite action towards the release of the remaining Chibok girls, raised by Asabe Vilita Bashir.
Bashir who represents, Damboa/Gwoza/Chibok FederalConstituency of Borno State reminded the House of the promise of the Federal Government to build on its successful negotiation with Boko Haram, which resulted in 21 girls being released in order to see to the freedom of another 83 students still held by the group.
