Former Political Adviser to President Bola Tinubu, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has revealed that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, initially dismissed reports of the abduction of schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.
Speaking in an interview on TVC on Thursday, July 31, Baba-Ahmed addressed claims that the mass kidnapping by Boko Haram was fabricated to embarrass Jonathan’s administration.
He firmly rejected such insinuations, stating, “Chibok wasn’t black of Jonathan, it was real, he and his wife didn’t believe it.”
On April 14, 2014, 276 girls were kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State. While some have since been rescued, many remain missing.
Baba-Ahmed lamented the government’s failure to fully resolve the crisis. “As we speak, Chibok girls are still missing and nobody can say where they are. Let’s not make light of this,” he said.
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He stressed that many families are still searching for answers, adding, “Some of the girls were taken from their families and nobody knows where they are.
“There was no blackmail. Boko Haram kidnapped girls from Chibok town waiting for exams, so let’s not kid with this.”
Baba-Ahmed also criticised Jonathan’s overall handling of national security.
“I think we haven’t had leaders who will take on security headlong. Jonathan served for six years and his handling of the security situation was very weak,” he said.
According to him, “It was under him that we had a full blown Boko Haram all the way to 2005.”