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Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan during the Paris Summit for Security in Nigeria in March where several countries met to coordinate a response to Boko Haram. Pic: PA

NIGERIA’S PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has hit back at claims he’s not doing enough to rescue over 200 school girls kidnapped by islamist militants Boko Haram.

In a piece for the Washington Post President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday (June 29) he was deliberately keeping quiet because he wanted to keep the girls safe by not jeopardising ongoing security operations.

Since the girls’ kidnapping in April, Jonathan has been hit by a barrage of criticism amid claims his government should have acted sooner to rescue the girls and should have developed strategies to deal with Boko Haram.

But Jonathan said his silence did not mean he was weak and ineffective and his critics wrongly misconstrued this.
Instead, he said federal government was using its resources to bring the girls back alive.

Jonathan said: ‘I have had to remain quiet about the continuing efforts by Nigeria's military, police and investigators to find the girls kidnapped in April from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram. I am deeply concerned, however, that my silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness.

‘My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation. But let me state this unequivocally: My government and our security and intelligence services have spared no resources, have not stopped and will not stop until the girls are returned home and the thugs who took them are brought to justice. On my orders, our forces have aggressively sought these killers in the forests of northern Borno State where they are based.

‘They are fully committed to defending the integrity of their country. My heart aches for the missing children and their families. I am a parent myself, and I know how awfully this must hurt. Nothing is more important to me than finding and rescuing our girls.’
Nigeria’s government has been facing growing protests and international pressure over the way it handled the kidnappings. Among recent critics was former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo who said earlier this month that President Goodluck Jonathan's administration took too long to respond to kidnappings. He said some of the girls may never return home. “It’s inconceivable to get all of them back. If you get all of them back, I will consider it a near-miracle,” Obasanjo told Nigeria's Premium Times website.

“Do you think they will hold all of them together up till now? The logistics for them to do that, holding over 200 girls together, is too much,” he said. “I believe that some of them will never return. We will still be hearing about them many years from now…”

He added, “If the administration had acted quickly, we could have rescued them. The best it seems we can have now is if the government agrees to negotiate, we can get half.”