President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday said the more than 200 female students kidnapped by Boko Haram from their hostel at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State over 300 days ago are still alive.
Jonathan revealed this on set an interview with the African Independent Television (AIT) during a current affairs programme, Kaakaki, in Abuja.
The abducted girls have been in captivity for over 300 days since being abducted on April 14 last year.
Jonathan, while responding to questions as to the rescue of the abducted girls, claims that the girls are still being kept by Boko Haram alive.
Abubakar Shekau, leader of the terrorist group, had in a video released in October 2014 said he will marry off the girls or sell them off as slave brides.
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The president, however, argued that if the schoolgirls had been killed, Shekau would have released a video showing how they were murdered.
Jonathan also noted that the Nigerian security forces were wary of storming the main stronghold of the terrorists because they fear the insurgents may use the girls as human shields.
He said, “Because they may use them as shields so we are working with the global best practices. We can’t just move in with artillery and clear the place. The good story is that they have not killed them, because when terrorists kill they display so that they use it to intimidate the society. So, these girls are alive. And so, we will get the girls. Luckily we are narrowing down the areas of their control. So we will get them”.
Speaking on the alleged plot by the People’s Democratic Party and his administration to foist an interim government on the nation, Jonathan noted that the Nigerian constitution has no provision for an interim government.
“There’s no provision for interim government in our constitution. The only interim government is military government. Talking about interim government to me is treasonable. There are some Nigerians that are bent on creating crisis in this country. There was no reason to doubt the May 29 handover,” the president said.
Jonathan, who is the presidential candidate for the PDP, expressed confidence that he was going to win the March 28 election under the party’s platform.
“Globally, a sitting president wins with fewer votes than during his first attempt. PDP still has better chances of winning a national election. PDP is still the dominant party, there’s no polling unit where you don’t have PDP members.
“If you remove the PDP elements in the opposition, it would just collapse like a pack of cards. PDP still has an edge over every other party; I am not worried about the outcome of the presidential election,” the president said.
