Governor Fayose lambasted over his comment on Chibok girls

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.”