The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji LAI MOHAMMED said such action by the former President amounts to an unnecessary distraction from ongoing efforts to secure the release of the girls who remain in captivity, long after they were abducted under JONATHAN’s watch.
LAI MOHAMMED was reacting to a report by a British newspaper that the British armed forces’ offer to attempt to rescue the girls was rebuffed by then President Jonathan.
MOHAMMED said while former the President reserves the right to defend his Administration, he should desist from saying that some people who have obviously been playing politics with the issue of the Chibok girls will stop at nothing to further their interest.
The Minister said if anyone ever played politics with the issue of the Chibok girls, it was the Jonathan Administration under whose watch the girls were abducted.
He recalled that after the girls were kidnapped, the Jonathan Administration did nothing for all of the first fifteen days or made any determined efforts to rescue them thereafter.
LAI MOHAMMED said it was the opposition APC at the time that told the nation several times that the whole Boko Haram crisis was allowed to escalate by the PDP-controlled Federal Government so they can use it as a political tool ahead of the 2015 elections.
In a statement released by his Special Assistant, the Information Minister said two-and-a-half years after; the APC has been vindicated by the report that claimed President Jonathan rebuffed an attempt by the British government to help rescue the girls.
Based on the development; the Minister advised the former President to refrain from stoking further controversy over the lingering abduction issue and allow the government of the day to focus on its ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the Chibok girls.
