Skip to main content

FLASHBACK: Government Must Do All It Takes To Rescue Abducted Citizens, Including Negotiating– El-Rufai Attacked President Jonathan In 2014

The governor had then in 2014 continued that by not exploring the option of negotiation, the Jonathan government was irresponsible and did not value the lives of abducted Nigerians.

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, as a governorship candidate in 2014, lambasted the then Goodluck Jonathan-led Nigerian government for not negotiating with the Boko Haram terrorists to secure the release of then 250 Chibok schoolgirls.

El-Rufai, in an interview with SaharaReporters Television in late 2014, maintained that the only reason why the Chibok schoolgirls were in captivity was because there was no daughter of a prominent Nigerian among them.

Image

The governor had then in 2014 continued that by not exploring the option of negotiation, the Jonathan government was irresponsible and did not value the lives of abducted Nigerians.

The old interview was posted by a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, on Thursday, with Nigerians wondering how El-Rufai had deceived Nigerians and failed to walk his talk now that Kaduna is reeling in the hands of bandits who abducted several school pupils and undergraduates yet to be rescued.

El-Rufai said in the video, "If you fail to supply petroleum products and we say you are failing and you say, we are politicising it, then fix the problem so that we don't politicise it.

"If we say there is terrorism and you say we are politicising it, eliminate terrorism. Five years ago, nobody was talking about terrorism in Nigeria. Under Jonathan, it has become an industry. We should now take advantage of their failings so that we secure the votes of Nigerians in the next elections; there must be something wrong with them (the government.)

"We have tried, we have made suggestions with the government on how to improve security. They have ignored it. They have set up five different committees that have given them reports in the last three years. They have not implemented one. They are incompetent but they try to blame other people."

On how to rescue Chibok schoolgirls, El-Rufai said, " Look, the government has the solution to these problems.

"Several committees have given them recommendations. They should just implement the recommendations in their drawers. For rescuing the girls, we have seen examples of what countries do when such a situation happens. You should have a military action on one hand and negotiation on the other hand. You should not foreclose anything because the lives of your citizens are at risk.

"And you don't want to lose the life of one person. You don't want to lose the lives of 250 girls. So, whatever it takes to rescue those girls should be done. If one of these girls was Jonathan's daughter, the story would be different.

.

"The only reason why these girls are in captivity is because they are not the daughters of any prominent Nigerian and we know it. And if you say I'm politicising terrorism, go and rescue the girls so that I don't have basis to politicise anything."

When asked if he was in support of negotiations, El-Rufai said, "I am in support of every option. When you have the lives of your citizens at stake. You should not take any option off the table. You should be flexible. You should listen and negotiate and get those girls out. You should not say you won't do this or you won't do that. It is irresponsible."

But under El-Rufai's watch in Kaduna, bandits have attacked the College of Mechanisation and abducted 39 students with 29 still in captivity.

The governor has insisted he would pay no ransom and also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone who negotiates with kidnappers on behalf of the government.

The bandits also attacked Greenfield University, a private school and abducted several undergraduates, with the state governor insisting the government would not negotiate with bandits.

Five of the students have been killed by their abductors already.

A few hours after abducting students of Greenfield University in the state, some gunmen kidnapped two nurses who worked overnight at the General Hospital in Idon, in the Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.

has said he will never pay ransom to bandits even if they kidnap his son.

The governor said this in a radio chat on Friday in Kaduna to underscore his government’s policy of not negotiating with bandits.

Recently, El-Rufai said the government should only apply force in dealing with bandits and other violent criminals, insisting that bandits do not deserve to live.

The governor said he had warned his family members to be careful and not be abducted because he would never pay a ransom for their freedom, should any of them be kidnapped.

“I mean it and I will say it again here. Even if my son is kidnapped, I will rather pray for him to make heaven instead, because I won’t pay any ransom,” El-Rufai recently said.

Topics
Insecurity