Why we’re slow in rescuing Chibok girls —Presidency

The Presidency has explained why it has been slow to rescue the over 200 schoolgirls that were abducted by terrorists in Chibok, Borno State over 100 days ago.

While speaking at Chatham House lecture series held at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said “the need to avoid a repeat of the 2004 experience when 300 children were killed in an attempt by Russians to free hostages held by Chechens in the North Caucasus region of Russia was responsible for the seemingly slow process of freeing the Chibok girls.”

Okupe, who spoke on the topic titled, “Priorities and Progress in Nigeria: Imperatives for stability and Growth,” on Thursday, said the military and other security agencies as well as their international allies are capable of rescuing the kidnapped girls from their abductors but would rather weigh all options to ensure that they were brought back alive.

The presidential aide described tackling the current insecurity in the North-East as the priority of the Federal Government and lamented that the various acts of insurgency were slowing down growth in other equally important sectors of the economy.

He said, “We are taking advantage of the offers from our international military and intelligence allies to get a greater understanding of the landscape and identify key locations. We are working with our neighbours to secure the borders and limit the movements of the Boko Haram fighters, building on the agreements reached at the recent summits in Paris and London.”

He added that government was also working on blocking domestic and international sources of funds for the insurgents group.

Speaking further, Okupe maintained that since Nigeria attained independence, no administration had done as much as the Jonathan administration in guaranteeing food sufficiency, better power output, effective transport and economic stability.

He said, “Consequent upon the faithful implementation of the transformation agenda, by the end of 2013, Nigeria’s non-oil exports had increased tenfold over two years, reaching almost $3bn from $276m in 2011. Nigeria is once again the world’s largest producer of cassava, a major raw material in the European and Asiatic food markets, and also accounted for thirty six per cent of the total global cocoa exports in 2013.”