Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja
(NIGERIA) President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday rejected the
notion that government has not done enough to rescue the abducted girls, saying
such belief was very wrong and misplaced.
Speaking during an audience with Malala Yousafzai, the
Pakistani Girl-Child Education Campaigner, President Jonathan said the Federal
Government is doing everything possible to ensure the girls’ release.
The President, however, explained to Malala, who was
accompanied by her father and other members of her Foundation, that the Federal
Government’s efforts were constrained by government’s resolve to ensure that
the girls’ lives are not endangered in any rescue attempt.
He said: “Terror is relatively new here and dealing with it
has its challenges. The great challenge in rescuing the Chibok girls is the
need to ensure that they are rescued alive.
“The Federal Government and its security agencies were very
mindful of the need to avoid the scenario in rescue attempts in other parts of
the world where lives of abductees were lost in the efforts to rescue them.”
Despite this challenge, he said, the Federal Government is
actively pursuing all feasible options to achieve the safe return of the
abducted girls.
“The time it is taking to achieve that objective is not a
question of the competence of the Nigerian Government. We have had teams from
the United States, Britain, France, Israel and other friendly nations working
with us here on the rescue effort and they all appreciate the challenges and
the need to tread carefully to achieve our purpose,” he stated.
The President said he would meet with the parents himself
before they leave Abuja to personally comfort them and reassure them that the
Federal Government is doing all within its powers to rescue their daughters.
He reiterated his administration’s commitment to providing
safe and proper education for Nigerian children.
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