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By Idowu Bankole
Former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has relived the events that took place in Chibok, Borno State in April 2014, leading to the abduction of 276 schoolgirls.
Okupe, in a bare-it-all interview with VanguardLive entitled: The Controversy, said God will reveal the truth about the Chibok girls’ abduction.
According to the erstwhile two-time presidential aide, events suggested that some major actors in North-East were not sincere and were largely economical with the truth about the girls’ kidnapping that drew wide international condemnation.
He hinted that even the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, could not claim responsibility for the kidnapping of the girls until 21 days after because he was initially in the know.
Okupe noted that he was deeply concerned from day one when the incident took place and that he got reliable information that showed that the kidnapping was perpetrated by those against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
His words: “God will reveal the truth behind the abduction of Chibok girls very soon. I can tell you that I was involved fully from day one.
“I never slept all through the period. On the day of the incident, I met the President at 2 am, again I saw him at 6 am.
“I want you to know something; the day Nyanya (in Abuja) was bombed was also the same day Chibok girls were kidnapped. Nyanya was bombed in the morning, Chibok girls were kidnapped at night. “Ironically, Shekau made a broadcast and accepted responsibility for the Nyanya bombing and he never mentioned anything about Chibok kidnap.”
Okupe insisted that if the abduction was a genuine conception of Boko Haram, Shekau would have claimed responsibility given the fact that it would have helped the sect to gain more international prominence than the Nyanya bombing.
“As we all know, the kidnapping of more than 200 girls would have made international news than the bombing which had been happening because Shekau and Boko Haram wanted publicity”.
“But ironically Shekau never claimed responsibility for the abduction. He never claimed responsibility for the Chibok kidnap until after 21 days”.
“On that same night, I spoke with the DPO of Chibok who confirmed that there was an exchange of gunfire between the police and the insurgents and no one was injured, either on his side or the side of the insurgents.”
Okupe explained that information given by those on the ground and involved in the incident was not just inconsistent, but also contradicting, thus raising major concerns about the genuineness of the kidnapping. “A friend with the Voice of America called to inform me that she spoke with the Principal of the Chibok school who confirmed to her that majority of the kidnapped girls were recovered by security forces on the day of the kidnapping and that some of the rescued girls had gone home with their parents.
“I called the Principal of the Chibok school who confirmed the story.
“But surprisingly three hours later, the same Principal held a press conference with then Commissioner for Education in Borno, saying that 257 girls were missing. From where?
“These were the events that happened but were not reported”.
The present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had secured the release of some of the girls, but others are still believed to be in the custody of the terror group which has continued abductions of innocent citizens in the North-East.
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