I can’t sleep with my two eyes closed again – President Jonathan speaks on abducted girls in Borno

President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday admitted that he no longer sleep with his two eyes closed since the April 14 abduction of the schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, adding that the situation will remain so until the girls regain their freedom.

He expressed the belief that the over 200 schoolgirls were still being kept within the country by the Boko Haram sect.

The President also ruled out the possibility that the girls could have been moved out of the country by their abductor, saying they may still be holed up inside Sambisa Forest.

Jonathan spoke while addressing a world press conference at the end of the three-day World Economic Forum for Africa held in Abuja.

He also denied media reports that the nation’s security agencies were slow  in responding to the abduction.

The President also told the world that most of those who were responsible for the recent bomb explosion in Nyanya, a satellite town of Abuja, have been arrested.

He said the visitors would have seen for themselves that although the country was facing challenges, Nigeria was moving on.

He said with the commitments and concerns raised by the international community, the abductors of the girl had no choice than to free them because they no longer have a hiding place.

He said, “Let me also use this unique opportunity to thank all of you who have shown commitment and concern those of you in Nigeria and those of you outside this country to continue to press on that these terrorists must bring back our girls.

“And they have no choice because I am quite pleased that the whole world is signing the same message that they must bring back our girls.

“And there is no where they will take this girls to, they have no hiding place, we must work with the global community that is quite keen to make sure that we bring back this girls.

“We plead with the parents as a father and the President of this country, I feel pained and I don’t sleep with my two eyes closed and I will not sleep with my two eyes closed until these girls are brought safely back to their parents.

“I thank you for all the concern, for all the sentiments, communications you are putting across to the rest of the world about what we are doing and of course where the world wants to support us.”

Jonathan disclosed that he is regularly in touch with heads of governments across the globe on the need for them to assist Nigeria in rescuing the girls.

He said security personnel of a number of the countries were already in Nigeria.

“I’m in touch with a number of Presidents. Of course,you are aware of my conversation with the American President and the United States government, French Government, the Chinese Government and other countries, willing to assist us.

“I have been talking to all the Presidents around Nigeria-Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and I am going beyond that also because the crisis we have in Nigeria cuts across Africa. It goes up to Central Africa, it goes up to North Africa.

“So I’m discussing with the leaders within the region and of course the world leaders that will support us.

“A number of the countries already their personnel have arrived Nigeria to assist us to find the girls. Collectively we must find these girls,” he said.

When asked about the current location of the girls and their abductors, Jonathan said they were still in Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

He said there was no way the abductors could have moved such a number of girls to Cameroon without people seeing them.

He said,  “The attackers are in a part of Borno State described as Sambisa Forest. It is a forest area and we are working with the experts that will use remote sensor to see that wherever they are, we will see.

“So the best we can say is that they are within the Sambisa Forest area. Of course, I agree that they are stories that they have been moved outside the country, but if they move that number of girls to Cameroon, people will see. So I believe that they are still within Nigeria.”

The President described the report that there was a slow response on the part of security agencies and the government to the abduction as a misconception.

He said, “There is no slow response at all, no no. It is a misconception. The response is not slow. I have explained this. Borno State can be described as the headquarters of the terrorists, Boko Haram, they are more in Borno State, then followed by Yobe and then Adamawa.

“Immediately this happened, they have been following it – both the Army and the Air Force, they have been combing.”

 The only thing we did not do because we felt it was not necessary then was to video the aircraft moving, the military people moving and the fighter helicopters.”

“We did not do the video to show because the people were on ground because of the state of emergency because of these terrorists. That is why people thought it was slow, no it was not.

“We started work immediately. It was not slow the Nigerian government responded immediately. If somebody gives you the impression that government is slow, that is not correct.”

BOKO HARAM BLOWS UP BRIDGE LINKING NIGERIA TO CAMEROON & MURDERS 30 PEOPLE.

The bombing and destruction of a small bridge linking Nigeria to Cameroon in Borno State today has caused mass destruction and confusion. The bombing occurred on the outskirts of Gamboru Ngala, site of a Monday Boko Haram attack that claimed the lives of over 300 village residents.

At least 30 people were killed during the late Thursday afternoon bombing incident, sources tell SaharaReporters. The bridge links the immigration check points of both Cameroon and Nigeria.

The bombing event took place on the same day of a mass burial in the town of Gamboru Ngala. It was there on Monday where a Boko Haram-led raid on the small village claimed the lives of over 300 residents, nearly ten per cent of the population.

CONFUSION IN APC!!!!

Coming from a man like Chief Tom Ikimi, one of the country’s most enduring political figures, the memo to the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC Chief Bisi Akande was indeed unnerving.

The memo dated May 1, 2014 was a narrative of the increasing confusion in the opposition political party across the country with the assertion that the party is losing members in strong numbers across the country.

“I am compelled to express strong reservations on the present state of affairs in our Party and my heart bleeds when I look back at the efforts and personal sacrifice many of us made to bring this national platform to fruition,” Ikimi wrote.

Just few days after the memo was sent out, the base of the party in Ikimi’s home, Edo State was shaken following the defection of the erstwhile national vice-chairman (South-South) of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his followers from the APC.

BUHARI CONDEMNS BOKO HARAM.

In his most pointed denunciation of the Boko Haram insurgency, former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), yesterday, urged Nigerians to put aside politics and all other divisions to crush the insurgency he said is fanned by mindless bigots masquerading as Muslims. 

Affirming that the group does not portray the Islamic faith he practices, Buhari told the group that the world is united against its evil.

Buhari, a leading opposition political figure, in the statement made available to Vanguard, sympathised with the immediate families of the girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram group, saying he shared their pains as a father and grandfather.

CHIBOK - THE EMERGING AND UNCOMFORTABLE FACTS - #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS

Now that the operational leadership and visible face of Boko Haram, in the person of the filth called Mr Abubakar Shekau (aka Darul Tawheed), has finally admitted that they were responsible for the abduction of hundreds of our school girls and that they intend to ‘’sell them in the market like slaves’’, it is pertinent and necessary for us to consider some of the emerging, though uncomfortable, facts.

This will enable us to understand the nature of who and what we are dealing with and allow us to consider what the appropriate response ought to be if we really want to solve the problem. Permit me to share the following.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has told us that 90 per cent of the girls that were abducted from their school at Chibok were Christians.

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EFCC Arrests Abuja Socialite & Prisons Accountant for Money Laundering.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a popular Abuja socialite who is also a top official of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Dr (Mrs) Imaobong Akon Esu-Nte. The suspect, a Grade Level 14 Officer with the Federal Ministry of Finance seconded to the Nigerian Prison Service as Head, Capital Accounts, was picked up Tuesday May 6 by operatives of the anti graft agency. And for several hours, she was grilled by investigators over allegations bordering on corruption, abuse of office and money laundering.

EFCC officials said they received tip-off regarding the  suspect’s lifestyle  which was inconsistent with her position as a public servant on a monthly salary of N121, 460 ($751).

The suspect owns several exotic cars and properties scattered over the (Federal Capital Territory) Abuja. Among her properties is a palatial mansion, a duplex with two-bedroom Boys Quarters at Sun City Estate, Abuja and another duplex at Karu Extension, Abuja, which is nearing completion.

IMAGES OF CHIBOK GIRLS WHO ESCAPED BOKO HARAM. #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS.

As Nigerians and the world community ponder the fate of the more than 230 young women still in the hands of the Boko Haram, SaharaReporters has obtained dramatic photo images of those who got away.

The photographs  surfaced   three weeks since the mass kidnapping by the Islamist group. There is incredible sadness displayed, with many of those captured in the photos openly weeping, as they publicly re-tell the horrors of the late night raid in mid-April.

#JUNGLEJUSTICE - MOB SETS SUSPECTED KIDNAPPER ABLAZE IN AKURE.

An angry crowd of young people beat and burned a man suspected of being a kidnapper in Akure, Ondo State capital today according to witnesses.

A person with knowledge of the attack said the young people came from Ayedun quarters in Akure, and had been monitoring the man before they dragged him to Adegbola Junction, hit and beat him, and set him on fire.

Akura division policemen tried to intervene but were beaten off by the youths, and people who witnessed the attack shouted they had lost hope in local police to prevent other attacks. Others threw rocks at the van of security agents.

IMPROVING OUR READING CULTURE.

Our country seems to have returned to the Dark Ages as reading, the habit that cultivates the mind and liberates it from the shackles of ignorance, is at its nadir. This disdain for reading has destroyed our educational fabric and the publishing industry. And the cumulative effect is the anomie in our society. The annual dismal performance of students in public examinations and the quality of our university graduates, who are barely literate, graphically illustrate the saga.

Gone are the days when parents used to buy novels for their children as gifts; or students addicted to reading newspapers bought with their pocket money, to keep abreast of global affairs. Schools quiz that exposes students to eclectic reading and, as a result, increases their cognitive quotient has waned. There are schools without libraries all over the place. This is in sharp contrast to four decades ago, when Eze Goes to School, a novel by Onuora Nzekwu and Michael Crowther, was a must-read by primary school pupils.

POLICE ANNOUNCES N50M REWARD FOR CREDIBLE INFORMATION ABOUT MISSING CHIBOK SCHOOL GIRLS. #BRINGBACKOURGILS

A new twist into efforts aimed at rescuing the 200 girls of the Government Girls College, Chibok unfolded Wednesday with the Nigeria Police force announcing a mouth watering cash reward of N50million to anyone who volunteers credible information that will lead to their rescue.

Making the disclosure in a statement signed by the Force Public Relations officer, CSP Frank Mba, the Police called on all Nigerians and general public to be part of the solution to the present security challenge.

It assured all citizens that any information given would be treated anonymously and with utmost confidentiality.

The Force urged all patriotic citizens with such useful information to contact the following numbers: 09-2914649, 08081777309, 08055547536, 08032125050, 08034617591 and 08035969731.

Kim Kardashian Writes Passionate Essay About Racism & Discrimination.

Kim Kardashian just took time from her sometimes-ridiculous life to get real about racism.

In a long blog post called "On My Mind," the reality TV star opens up about how motherhood and being with Kanye West has changed her and how she sees the world.

Making references to Trayvon Martin and Malala Yousafzai, Kim wrote a passionate and surprisingly well written essay about racism and discrimination.

Read the full text after the cut....

UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR LECTURER SHOT BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN IN HIS OFFICE.

Gunmen suspected to be students, Tuesday, shot a lecturer in the University of Calabar,  Dr  Godwin Iwatt in his office mortally wounding  him.

The lecturer who was shot in the stomach was rushed to the  General Hospital Calabar where he is still in a  coma at the emergency unit of the hospital  with doctors battling to save his life.

An eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the lecturer was in his office at the Department of Microbiology at about 3 pm when two persons  suspected to be  students went  into his office and opened fire on him.

Vanguard

EXCERPTS FROM PROF. WOLE SOYINKA'S INTERVIEW WITH CNN.

What did you make of the swaggering, gleeful laughter of this leader when he just sort of appeared with face uncovered to the world and said he was going to sell these girls?  Just give me your impression psychologically of what he’s up to.

Hmmm…most bullies whether on a small scale, on a national or international scale…they bluster, they do more of the same thing when they spite a community or nation state which is on its knees, which doesn’t confront them directly. It’s a normal condition. If you remember, when the United Nations headquarters was blown off in the capital of the nation; you want to go further back when extreme Islamists literally sacked the capital (Abuja) under former President  Olusegun Obasanjo because they claimed that religion was offended because there was a beauty contest going on there…there have been numerous instances like this. And when Yussuf (first Boko Haram leader), remember, a former head of state went on a mission of appeasement to Boko Haram family asking, virtually on his knees, “please forgive and forget.” But these were killers. I mean, those who killed the leaders should have been punished, yes, but you should not go and appease killers.

MICHELLE OBAMA JOINS THE #BRINGBACKOURGIRLS CAMPAIGN.

The First lady of the United States of America has  joined the millions of people worldwide demanding for the return of the 234 Chibok School girls abducted by Boko Haram in Borno, Nigeria. #BingBackOurGirls.

It is rather sad that the Nigerian government led by a certain Goodluck Jonathan waited for a massive public outcry  after 3 weeks before admitting that the security forces in Nigeria do not possess the intelligence to rescue the girls.

America has offered to assist Nigeria to eliminate the sect and put an end to the raging bloodshed especially in the northern part of the country.

NIGERIA'S STOLEN GIRLS - NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL.

Three weeks after their horrifying abduction in Nigeria, 276 of the more than 300 girls who were taken from a school by armed militants are still missing, possibly sold into slavery or married off. Nigerian security forces apparently do not know where the girls are and the country’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has been shockingly slow and inept at addressing this monstrous crime.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Children’s Fund said Boko Haram, the ruthless Islamist group that claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, abducted more young girls from their homes in the same part of the country in the northeast over the weekend. The group, whose name roughly means “Western education is a sin,” has waged war against Nigeria for five years. Its goal is to destabilize and ultimately overthrow the government. The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, said in a video released on Monday, “I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah.”

EXAMINING PRESIDENT JONATHAN'S MEDIA CHAT.

The best thing about President Goodluck Jonathan’s media chat on Sunday was that it clearly alerted Nigerians not to ever expect a hands-on leadership under his Presidency. Presented one more time with an opportunity to demonstrate statesmanship before distraught Nigerians, Jonathan made a royal hash of it. Rather than use the Presidential Media Chat – broadcast live on radio and television – to reassure a nation reeling from the kidnap of 276 teenage girls, corruption and sundry adversities, the President came across as wimpy at a time the country needed firm and purposeful leadership.  A country that is home to the world’s largest number of Black people should not appear so rudderless.

Watching Jonathan explain issues was disturbing on several levels. For many Nigerians and the international community, the chat was expected to provide a platform for the President to reassure the parents of the missing girls – captured at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by Islamist terrorists three weeks ago – that the security forces were close to rescuing them.

NYANYA SCHOOL BUS HIJACK - POLICE ARREST 2.

THE BUS DRIVER

There was panic in the Federal Capital Territory on Tuesday when three unknown gunmen invaded a private school, The Vine Kiddies International Academy, Nyanya,  Kurudu, in a white Golf Volkswagen car.

The school is located a few kilometres from the scene of the first and second bomb blasts that occurred on April 14 and May 1, 2014 respectively.

The three gunmen, according to the security guard of the school, arrived in the area at about 6 a.m. in the car and parked a few metres away from the school gate but waited until  8am when classes began.

The security guard, Gabriel Fishing, told our correspondent that no harm was done to any of the pupils during the attack.

BOKO HARAM MURDERS 300 AND ABDUCTS 11 GIRLS IN BORNO.

In another daring operation, members of the terrorist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, on Monday night killed about 300 people in Gamboru Ngala, Borno State. Gamboru Ngala is a border town with Cameroon.

The Boko Haram insurgents also abducted 11 more girls in Warabe and Wala communities in the Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State late on Monday.

The insurgents reportedly drove into Gamboru Ngala in armoured vehicles.

It was learnt that the insurgents, who seemed to have targeted a local market, shot sporadically at traders at the market before proceeding into the town to wreak more havoc.

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