Why Boko Haram abducted Chibok girls – Police Affairs Minister

Boko Haram insurgents abducted the schoolgirls of Chibok, Borno State, because they wanted the whole world to pay attention to them, Police Affairs Minister Abdul-Jelili Adesiyan has said. The minister told our correspondent weekend in Abuja that having realised that bombing was no longer novel, the sect kidnapped the girls to press home their demands […]

Boko Haram insurgents abducted the schoolgirls of Chibok, Borno State, because they wanted the whole world to pay attention to them, Police Affairs Minister Abdul-Jelili Adesiyan has said.

The minister told our correspondent weekend in Abuja that having realised that bombing was no longer novel, the sect kidnapped the girls to press home their demands which, according to him, are both unknown and unorthodox.

He said President Goodluck Jonathan’s prayer was to have a peaceful country to be able to deliver his mandate, adding that the president, as the leader and father of all Nigerians, would not have loved to lose a single soul in the country.

Adesiyan described terrorism as a global challenge, alleging that it had become extraordinary in Nigeria because the opposition were orchestrating it.

He specifically accused the opposition of using the abduction of the schoolgirls to stop President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, saying: “But because there terrorists know no boundaries and want to kill anyhow to press home their demands which we don’t know, which are unorthodox, they can do anything so much that when they bomb churches, mosques and public places, it’s no longer novel. Of late, they kidnapped these schoolgirls for the whole world to listen to them. They (terrorists) started in the US, they went to England and they’re in Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and everywhere.

“So, it’s not about targeting Nigeria. The only unfortunate thing that makes our own extraordinary is that the opposition, because of lack of patriotism, are orchestrating what’s happening here. They use it as an instrument to stop President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. Terrorism didn’t start today, but they (the opposition) want to use it as an instrument for politics to get into power, and they call themselves progressives”.

According to the minister, instead of collaborating with the Federal Government to fight terrorism, the opposition were using it as a political instrument to blackmail the president.

He said the opposition found it easy to be insulting and abusing Jonathan because of his magnanimity to follow the constitution of the country to the letter.

He said the war against terrorism would be easier if all Nigerians are patriotic enough to give relevant information to the security agencies, stressing that if such other countries as America and Britain could overcome terrorism, Nigeria would also overcome it.

Adesiyan, who disagreed that the police were poorly funded, said while no amount of money could be enough for any agency, the government was prioritising and focusing attention much more on the funding of the security system.