Posted on: 02:20 Fri, 01 Apr 2016



Criticisms have trailed the outburst
of Governor Ayodele Fayose on the
abducted Chibok schoolgirls.

He had said the abduction was not
true, but a political instrument to
vote out Goodluck Jonathan.

While the Boko Haram group
showed video of the over 200 girls
in captivity, a global outrage had
trailed the abduction.

In a recent interview, a former
British High Commissioner to
Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, said
US and UK intelligence surveillance
located the missing girls at the Boko
Haram Forest but could not do
anything as Nigerian authorities
did not ask for help.

But Fayose added a twist to the
abduction saga when he claimed
that the girls were not kidnapped.

Recalled that the administration of
former President Goodluck
Jonathan had also lived in denial
up till three weeks after the news of
the abduction broke, saying no
schoolgirl was kidnapped in
Chibok.

The senator representing Osun-
West senatorial district, Isiaka
Adeleke, said Fayose should put
himself in the shoes of the
schoolgirls’ parents, adding that
even former President Jonathan
later admitted that the schoolgirls
were kidnapped.

Adeleke said, “Fayose should not
trivialise this touchy issue. The
governor should use his time wisely
and pray for the safe return of
these girls.”

The senator representing the Osun-
East senatorial district, Babajide
Omoworare, called on the country’s
security agencies to invite Fayose
to tell Nigerians where the
kidnapped schoolchildren are.

In a reaction on Thursday,
Omoworare said his called for the
interrogation of Fayose because the
governor appeared to have
classified information on the
whereabouts of the girls.

He said, “Security agents must
invite Fayose for us to know where
the schoolgirls are. He is probably
having classified information.

However, if he is playing politics as
usual, it is cruel to mock the girls’
parents and Nigerians who are
daily in agony and hoping that
someday, the girls would come back
alive.

“Buhari administration will do all it
can to bring the girls and end the
mockery from people like Fayose.”

Also, a former member of the
House of Representatives, Bamidele
Faparusi, described Fayose’s claim
as a threat to national security.

Faparusi maintained that Fayose by
the statement had insulted the
sensibilities of the families of the
girls.

A former Executive Secretary,
Ayedire Council of Osun State,
Gbenga Ogunkanmi, said Nigerians
should not accord Fayose attention.

In a statement by his media aide,
Ismail Usman, on Thursday,
Ogunkanmi said Fayose had lost the
sense of dignity and integrity.

He said, “It is shocking that a
person occupying the exalted
position of governor could open his
mouth and gush out these
insensible utterances. It shows how
debased our political system is. It
shows that something is wrong with
how our political leaders emerge.”